Oh, bother

Some help from a friend

This sure doesn’t sound much like “Green Eggs and Ham” or “Cat in the Hat,” and that’s because this book is about what kids should do in a school shooting.

A law enforcement consulting firm in Houston has produced a book called “Stay Safe” and features one of our favorite characters from childhood: Winnie the Pooh. But that’s where the similarities between today’s childhood and our own end.

One page of the book reportedly reads, “Danger is scary, but our legendary friends Pooh and his crew are here to help us through” and “if we can’t get away, we have to fight with all our might.”

The Dallas Independent School District has provided the book to its K-6 students and has some parents in Texas up in arms, metaphorically speaking. The parents who are appalled that young children might have to discuss this subject say it shows the adults are “tone deaf.” Further, some say they see it as a “slap in the face” that says, “It’s normal now. Have a book about it.”

But with the number of mass shootings outpacing the number of days in 2023, it’s becoming normal—much to our sad chagrin.

It would seem that teaching kids how to minimize lethal threats is a good thing at any age, and is a message that should be delivered by a voice they trust. Unfortunately, the most trusted voices—those of parents—may not always have these conversations, and if they do, they might not know what to say. Who would? Imagine looking into the eyes of a first-grader and trying to come up with the words.

So a law enforcement consulting firm has.

We’ve heard former FBI officials on speaking tours tell us in no uncertain terms the first thing to do in such a shooting is to head for the exits. If at all possible, run, run, run away. This is a central theme of the book, and it’s sound advice at any age.

One outraged parent asked, “The best they can do is give a children’s book and hope for the best?”

No.

There are many more things that can be done to minimize or prevent school shootings worthy of debate, from redflag laws, to mandated locks, to universal background checks, and any number of ideas that could help in this, our nation’s unique criminal problem.

This children’s book might seem ... unseemly. But so did locks on school doors 20 years ago. So did closed campuses and cameras in the parking lots and police on campus. Nowadays, all these things are normal, or should be.

This children’s book may or may not help.

But it darned sure can’t hurt.