It’s “go time” for high school students as they return today to their respective campuses in Caddo and Bossier. Elementary school and middle school students in Caddo got a head start by beginning their school year last week.
For the past 12 years, part of the Byrd Family tradition on the opening day of school has been to end our day by wading through the mass of late back-to-school shopping humanity at Target, Office Max, and Office Depot along Youree Drive in South Shreveport.
It’s not for the faint of heart.
Last year, while hunting for the perfect three-ring binder for my daughter, I saw a backpack which included a new feature for 2021-2022 … bulletproof backing at Office Max. Usually, backpacks will advertise stain resistance or liners in the pockets. I guess we have moved away from those bells and whistles to advertise how well it can hold up to a bullet.
Strange and sad times, indeed.
While I had heard that these were a thing, there was a different feeling seeing it in person hanging in the store and parents checking it out.
My initial thought: manufacturers playing to the fears of the public – perpetuated by mainstream media.
Then May 24, 2022 happened.
Nineteen children and two adults were killed at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, the third deadliest school shooting in United States history.
There are no words in the dictionary to adequately describe what that community experienced on that day or has experienced in the 78 days since.
On June 21-22, my school year ended. As an assistant principal at C.E. Byrd High School, my last assignment was to attend the Louisiana’s Safe Schools Conference held by the Louisiana School Resource Officers, at the Shreveport Convention Center.
The keynote speaker, Phil Chalmers, talked to a room full of school administrators, school resource officers, sheriffs from around the state, and district level security personnel.
As he talked to the attendees, calls came in over the sound system. These calls were from prisoners who had committed school shootings.
After Chalmers would briefly interview the school shooter, asking them what was going through their mind when they carried out the violence, and what–if anything–would have prevented them from doing it in the first place, he asked the convention attendees if they had any questions for the school shooter.
Some law enforcement in the audience did, in fact, ask questions. I did not.
This happened two or three times.
Chalmers interviewed these cold-blooded killers like a sleep-deprived sportswriter interviewing the quarterback after a high school football game.
Later, Chalmers showed actual video footage of school shootings.
I’ve been an educator of 27 years, and it made me physically ill to watch the reactions of the bodies of students and teachers going limp from bullets received inside the classroom — to the point that I almost got up and walked out.
Why am I watching this? What is the point?
I’ve thought about that convention and those questions in the seven weeks since. I’ve also thought about the mothers and fathers, the brothers and sisters, in Uvalde, Texas who are starting the school year without a child. Without a parent. Without a classmate.
Again, no words.
There is no back-to-school shopping excitement this year in that Southwest Texas town. Only horrific memories, anxiety, and emptiness left from the innocence lost on that day in Uvalde.
While the mainstream media and politicians continue the blame game from a procedural standpoint, educators and school leaders across the country begin this school year adding emergency management protocols, lock down procedures, and active shooter trainings to their 2022-2023 lesson plans.
Sadly, it’s the new normal. Like loading up new back-to-school supplies in a bulletproof backpack.
Contact Jerry Byrd at sbjjerrybyrd@gmail.com