When I was in school we worried about fitting in with our peers and about getting passing grades. We worried about social awkwardness, maybe finding a date and some had to worry about bullies - a big problem 30 years ago and still a big problem today.

 In our senior years, we worried about what we were going to do when we graduated. Were we going to get a job or were we going to university? Were we going to stay in our hometown or would we chase our dreams to the big cities?

 It seemed like a lot to think about back then. But I can honestly say, three decades ago we didn't have to worry about a crazed gunman storming the school and killing us. Regrettably, that's one of the things today's students must deal with and that fact is a sad testament to how far our society has regressed.

 I was reminded of this reality just recently when I read a news story about three schools in Amherst being locked down when someone told police they had spotted a person carrying a weapon in the west end of Amherst. In the news report, the town's deputy police chief said the suspicious sighting could not be confirmed. But something about this story didn't sit right with me.

 Two police officers on foot patrol were at Amherst Regional High School that morning when someone approached them. The witness told the officers they had seen someone with some type of weapon walking on a street about 100 metres from the school. What type of weapon the witness said they saw was never confirmed, but police informed the school's principal about the report, who responded by locking the doors and telling students to stay inside.

 At that point, the Chignecto-Central Regional School Board temporarily locked down the senior and junior high schools as well as a nearby elementary school. Officers were also posted outside the other two schools.

 When lockdowns happen within a school, a series of protocols immediately go into place. Doors are locked, curtains are closed, students are huddled into corners away from windows, law enforcement personnel are activated and, because we're talking about human beings - in this case young students - fear and panic set in.

 Sadly, all schools today, by policy, are required to carry out lockdown drills several times a year, just like they are required to practice fire drills. It's a sad commentary on our society when we have to put young people through such stressful scenarios, but we've seen far too many school massacres in recent decades not to be prepared, so regrettably, lockdown drills and disaster preparedness are now part of everyday life in our schools.

 As a parent with one child still in school, I may think it's a sad reflection of our society's woes that we've gotten to this point, but I'm also a realist and I accept the premise that it's better for students to be prepared than to be caught unaware of what to do should, heaven forbid, such an incident occur in our school. Forewarned is forearmed in such cases.

 However, and here's where my thinking hits the grey area on this particular case, I'm not sure the action was warranted this time. I appreciate that school staff were acting in the best interest of the students when they initiated the lockdown, but I can't stop thinking that it was an overreaction to a possible threat that may or may not even have been aimed at the schools.

 In this case they had no idea what the threat was or if, in fact, the alleged suspect even had a weapon. Furthermore, the reported individual was not on school property so how credible was the threat? Was it a prank, perhaps? The deputy chief confirmed that police searched the area but nothing was ever found and no incidents were ever reported.

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 Meanwhile, the school had hundreds of panicked students huddled in corners fearing that a crazed gunman was about to storm their classrooms.

 Now I'm not saying that the schools should not have taken precautions, but going into full lockdown mode with a report that a weapon may have been seen close by seems a little excessive in my way of thinking. As a precautionary measure, all outer doors should have been locked and all students should have been kept inside. At the same time police could have been dispatched to the scene and established a presence at all schools, but a full lockdown seemed over the top.

 Tragedies can happen anywhere, I get that. I also accept that it's better to be prepared before people are hurt and if, in fact, one of the schools had been targeted by a gunman, the lockdown would have been seen as an heroic decision.

 However, the reality is that in our current frame of mind, we've worked ourselves into such lather that we often don't think rationally.

 It's one thing to be prepared and cautious, but it's something completely different when we let fear guide our lives. It's got to be a delicate balancing act for people in such positions. Knowing that their decisions could be the difference between life and death must be a tremendous burden and it's a position I would not want to be in, so it's easy for me to criticize.

 However, I also think that with such responsibility must come the wisdom and knowledge to react appropriately in such situations and I can't help but think, in this case, it was more than a little over the top.

 How far we have fallen as a society.

 E-mail me: editorial@southshorenow.ca

posted on 02/01/12