POST SCRIPTS

The big question is what was wrong? will i send my 8th grader there no way. is my daughter going to be safe going to one of the high schools in oroville NO!

Such things can happen anywhere and anytime, I regret to say. Ask my son, he's a police officer and he only recently captured a hostage taker that held a special ed class hostage at knife point. He's trained do it, as are a number of his fellow officers in Stockton. This is a sign of the times we live in.

However, at Las Pluma the police responded quickly and it looks like they did exactly what they needed to do. The schools also did exactly what they had prepared to do in case of such an emergency and that part was really reassuring.

No doubt a lot of parents like Mendi are now really concerned about sending their children off to school. But we have to forge ahead and not let it stop us from living our lives as we should. Life is always going to have some risk.

The best we can do is to live smart, be aware, be prepared and lets keep working to identify problems like this kid... before they hurt anyone.

I'll bet there was plenty of red flags before he took hostages.

We need to learn and be proactive!!!!

By the way Mendi, my kids went to Oroville schools. They had their share of problems too, it's a rough place. But, we made it.

Mendi, This is a dynamic that truly can and does happen anywhere. Training is the key, the same way we train our kids not to go to strangers etc. Now we need to train them to have the courage to let someone know if/when they see a classmate acting strangely or making what may seem to be an idle threat. I am not talking about over reacting, just reacting.

Tell them to pay attention during school emergency drills and know what to do if an emergency is declared. Have them tell you what the procedure is. Go to PTA or PTS meetings and find out what the school plan is and what you should do as a parent. In a strees situation, we all react the way we are trained. If we haven't been trained, it is harder to cope with the stress.

Unfortunately, unless we build a large plastic bubble for them to live in, our children are going to be at risk. The best thing we can do is give them the tools they need to survive in the world we live in.