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| Our street, out of an upstairs window. |
We live only 300 m from the school gates. We can't see the school from here (we have a couple of corners to turn), but it's close. The roads between here and there are narrow and not extremely busy, so we allow our boys all to walk to and from school on their own each day, yes, even our 2nd grader. They usually don't travel together either. It's an extraordinary freedom they have (and most of their friends have too), and that we've all taken for granted!
That was curtailed a bit yesterday. After lunch all the parents received an email from the school that began:
We have had an anonymous phone threat in Japanese that there might be an attack on someone from our school after classes today.The school made a number of adjustments to the way things usually happen, but the most intrusive upon us was to require parents to advise the school how we wanted our kids to come home. It was easy for me, I just collected them myself. But the boys weren't all that happy with the changes. They love their freedom.
And their freedom gives me freedom too! Yesterday my style was cramped. I particularly regretted that they didn't get to play outside before coming home (it was a bit ugly in our small house for a while). However, I'm grateful for the school taking the students' safety so seriously.
David and I decided that today we would also accompany the boys to and from school. They weren't particularly happy with that either.
The whole episode leaves us feeling a bit uneasy, though. For what reason did the person make the threat? Will it happen again? How safe is our neighbourhood really (living so close to CAJ, its neighbourhood is our neighbourhood)?
It reminds us to pray. It reminds us that we can't take things like freedom and safety for granted. But most of all it reminds us that ultimately our life and our children's lives are in God's hands, it is in him that we must trust, not any illusion of safety.
Sorry to hear that. It must have left you a bit shaken up.
ReplyDeleteThat's scary! Is everyone from the school ok?
ReplyDeleteYes, everyone is okay physically, if a bit shaken. I'm sure there are some who are struggling with fear.
ReplyDeletePraying all will be resolved and that fears will be eased. How scary for that to happen. Hope they can find who's responsible so it doesn't happen again.
ReplyDeleteI hear you on the cramping your style bit though. Since we've been letting our guys walk home alone, I always feel a bit irritated on the days when I have to wake up both the little people and drag them down to school to collect the big guys if one of them is staying late for chess or some other thing (I don't let the younger one come home alone yet). I love the freedom of being able to choose if I go to school or not....
Thanks Karen. I think of my mum and how she dropped me at school and picked me up most of my school career (that's not counting music twice a week for my entire school career either). I have quite a privilege!
ReplyDeleteWe haven't heard any more from the school about it, so I'm assuming that they aren't too concerned about it. It would be nice to have some clear conclusion to the matter, though.