Let's step up to protect children

To the editor:
Concerning recent events/threats at Jay County High School: I have just finished reading the comments left on the WANE-TV webpage to the story regarding the threat at the Jay County High School and am compelled to voice my opinion.  
To all of you who are so quick to point fingers and place blame on the parents, school administrators and the Jay County Sheriffs Department, you need to turn that finger around and point it at yourself.  
We all have an impact on our community. To blame the parents for choices made by their teenage children is unfair. These people are young adults and will make their own choices regardless of their upbringing.  Perhaps our biggest mistake in raising our children is trying to protect them from their own poor choices.  
Children must learn that there are consequences to every choice they make every day. How many of you had knowledge of these alleged “gangs” in advance of the threats being made? How many of you reported this knowledge to the authorities? The school administration and the police have to work with the information they have been given.
 Do you think that teenagers with guns is a new development in our county? Guns and drugs go hand in hand, and unfortunately we have a very serious drug problem in Jay County.  
As for some of you suggesting that these students should have been removed from the school system some time ago, we live in America and this is a public school.  
There must be a very valid reason for permanently removing a student from school. The administration is not able to simply say some student is difficult to handle and simply remove the bad apples.
 If this were done, there would be many of you screaming discrimination on the part of the schools. The world is a dangerous place to live and the best you can do is teach your children how to survive in this world.  
While I understand your desires to keep your kids home from school on Monday, what about the rest of the week? Do you plan to move them to a different school?
We need to band together and report illegal activities when we see them, stand up for what is right, and have some faith in the persons we have put in positions of authority.
They are doing the best they can with the tools they have at hand. None of them want to see a student hurt. Their first priority is safety. Let them do their job.  
To the Jay County High School students I would say take a stand and refuse to allow this handful of bullies to have power over you. If you hear or see something that is wrong, report it.
 This whole stigma that is out there regarding someone being a “snitch” is ridiculous. We need to clean up our own backyards. If it becomes uncool and less easy to sell/buy/do drugs and have guns, I believe the problem will lessen.  
It will never go away, but it is high time we all stepped up to protect our children from this evil in our community.
Respectfully,
Nancy Robbins
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