I like to think I’m an open-minded person, not the type of mom who’d get all freaked out about some alternative teens under the same roof as my young ‘un. I recall actually being intrigued by the idea that high school students would be attending school just one floor above my six-year-old. I know there was a moment in which I wondered why, exactly, these students needed an alternative to traditional high school, so I looked it up online. It seemed like a great program with educational options for every type of student, those who’d fallen behind in coursework, were pregnant, those who needed vocational skill training in addition to regular schoolwork, the inevitable et ceteras of adolescence. When I read the Lookout, I thought, smoking on school grounds! Tsk, tsk. Ah, well, nothing a kid couldn’t run into walking down the street. Could be worse.

Just the next day (irony alert: it was day two of America’s Safe Schools Week... kudos to Gov. Doyle for championing the cause, at least on paper), I came across worse:

Violence at Lapham

This blip of a blurb was not on the Lapham Elementary website. It was not in my email inbox. It was not in a note in my daughter’s backpack. Nope, it was at School Information System, an excellent website I stumbled upon which, best I can tell, is comprised of the thoughts and facts going through the heads of school personnel, school board members, and others with a vested interest in Madison’s school system. (I’m inferring here; a thorough search of the site proved me neither right nor wrong).

Within seconds of reading about the incident, the possibilities were closing in on my open mind. Who was fighting? What was it about? Was there gang violence at my child’s K-2 school (newsflash, folks, Dane County is hardly immune to youth gang activity)? Was it drug-related? Over a girl? Over a boy? How did the teacher get kicked in the head? How serious were her injuries? Which teacher was it? Did any of the students spy her getting carted off in the ambulance? How in the world would I answer any questions my daughter might have about what had happened? And why in the world did I find out about it while scanning a website?

I took some of my own advice, a good thing for parents to do, well, all the time. Deep breath and calm down. I advocate for inclusion and the acceptance of alternatives daily. In my heart I believe good education is a right deserved by all, just like legal marriage and medical marijuana (ok, not “just like,” maybe “sort of like”). But I couldn’t get past the glowing screen that reminded me: the glaring realities of our modern world call into question the logic behind putting troubled adolescents in the same building as happy-go-lucky kids. I broached the topic with a fellow parent later that afternoon. She was as shocked as I had been, and we gasped, almost in unison, “I mean, what if the kid has a gun?”

After that, we were silent. We didn’t know what to say, because we didn’t know what to think. That’s what happens when people are underinformed... they can only imagine. I’d like to report that the next day, or the day after that, we got a newsletter that reassured us that the teacher was fine, the student had been suspended, and our children were not in danger of further violence. But I’ve gotten no such assurance. It’s been a week now, and all that remains of the incident at the elementary school is Ed Blume’s wake up call on the web. Another thing that happens when people are uninformed: they seek information. I asked a source associated with Lapham if the rumor was true. This source had heard that indeed, what I'd read was true. They hadn’t witnessed it, but had spoken to someone who had, a person who was "visibly shaken up" even an hour later. I found this, a log of calls to police from the program, under the headline Will Marquette & Lapham Students Be Safe? I admit it. After perusing the log, I had a sick feeling that my daughter, though perhaps not unsafe at school, is definitely less safe than she was last year at this time. I morphed from cool, laidback mom to overprotective, worrywart mother hen. From what I can see, the only security measure implicated at Lapham since the addition of Affiliated Alternatives is a sign on the wall telling those involved in the program to proceed directly to the third floor of the school. I hadn’t given it a thought before, but now, as I kiss my daughter’s innocent forehead at the bus stop, there’s a cloud of trepidation around me that didn’t formerly exist.

I’m going to borrow one of her favorite sayings here. It’s not fair! Not fair that today’s [usually underpaid] teachers have to go above and beyond their call of duty to become mediators and sometimes subsequently victims. (I was flabbergasted to find that this occurred more than 200 times in the last school year alone!) Not fair that potentially angry, often outcast high school students have to proceed directly to the third floor of an elementary school because the budget left them nowhere else to go. Not fair that said budget didn’t include a security guard or two who could have stepped in at the crucial moment before someone’s head got kicked in. Not fair that nobody decided to send a letter home to Lapham parents letting them know the facts. And yes, I know the familiar refrain quite well: Life’s not fair.

But I don’t think I had to hear that answer until I was at least in junior high. Our dear elementary school children should be able to revel in their innocence, that wide-eyed jubilance particular to the pint-sized set. Their curiosity about the world around them should remain untarnished by reminders of their vulnerability or their position as pawns in an argument over property taxes and zoning bylaws.

Whew. I’ll stop before I get too Whitney Houston "Greatest Love of All" here. Or maybe I’ll go just a little further, because I’m a mom. I guess the bottom line is that in my fantastical ideal world, everyone who walks into a public school should be able to think of it as a safe haven. To the youths who were fighting, I just hope you’re okay. I hope your quarrel was resolved peacefully and your heads and hearts are calm. Anonymous teacher, you’re a hero, and I hope you’re alright too, physically and mentally. I want to believe it was nothing serious, and that you’re getting the support and care that you need to continue down such a remarkable career path. The more I think about it, the more I think that if more people could step up and step in, reaching a hand out to those who need to grab it, or if more politicians could put the money where the petition signatures are, the issue of school violence could become less and less prevalent.

According to a very vigilant local parent, when it comes to Madison school crime, we can do better. For my part, I’m going to keep proactively seeking out the answers wherever I can, instead of expecting them to show up in my daughter’s Friday folder. I’m going to continue to live as an example to her, so she knows how to resolve at least some of the craziness that seems to crop up earlier and earlier for kids these days. And, as the Lapham Elementary Lookout reminds me, I’ll be sure to let the principals know if I hear of any problems. Though it might only be fair to let you know also.