REJECTED by Cobourg Daily Star, April 17/07

Re: Maximizing school safety, Apr 17/07

Eileen Argyris' editorial tells the story of parents who "immediately became alarmed" when told about a principal who disagreed with a concerned parent's suggestion of locking the school during class time.

"Immediately became alarmed". It is a mindless mantra. No sober second thought. No considered reflection. No utilization of wisdom. Only a knee-jerk thoughtlessness by a fast-fear mac-alarmist community of reactionaries.

It is to this community that Ms Argyris asserts that school shootings and pedophile intrusions "are daily news somewhere."

Nothing could be further from the truth regardless of the sensationalist ranting of the news media. "Daily news somewhere." This sort of assertion is made when the author has no evidence to support such contention. This technique is used by propagandistas bloated with political agendas.

So Ms Argyris is propagating extremist, groundless assertions for what purpose?

Well, to have all doors in schools locked except one next to the office so that all "can be seen -- and checked."

What does Ms Argyris mean by "checked"? Does she mean checked like foreigners entering the land of Home Security? All purses and bags opened and contents checked? Does it mean individuals should be body-frisked? Does it mean a thorough document check? Perhaps a small ante room should be set up to isolate individuals being "checked."

"Checked." It's a thoughtless throwaway word reflecting the shallow-think of exploitive politicians and social activists aka reactionaries. Ms Argyris' agenda is an incompetently presented call for action that disregards sober second thoughts.

-- Wally Keeler