USA TODAY International Edition
Moms sick of school shootings take action
Iowa group sets up classroom defense
DES MOINES — Melissa Mahon felt the same sick pang in the pit of her stomach Thursday morning many of America’s parents felt.
They sent their kids to school — dropped them off, or watched as they climbed onto a school bus or backed out of the driveway — with an extra twinge of dread about what the day might hold for them.
Wednesday’s massacre of at least 17 students and adults at a school in Parkland, Fla., shook the nation yet again.
Mahon, who lives in Keosauqua, a town of fewer than 1,000 in southeast Iowa, is the mother of three young children: preschool, kindergarten and first grade.
No fewer than four school evacuations this week in Iowa helped feed everyone’s collective paranoia.
So Mahon and a gaggle of friends and fellow moms began commiserating at the bus stop.
They continued over Facebook Messenger.
“So this school shooting has me so freaked out,” wrote Breanne McEntee. “I think we need to start talking again about buying/requiring every classroom have ‘The Sleeve.’ … Maybe we can do a fundraiser or something? Ideas?”
McEntee was referring to a device manufactured by Fighting Chance Solutions in Muscatine.
About a year ago, another mom, Nasseem Hesler, who is also Keosauqua’s mayor, noticed an ad for a similar device on her Facebook feed. Hesler mentioned it to friends and school officials.
These gadgets fit over the arm mechanism of a classroom door to secure it from the inside and prevent it from opening.
The theory is that even a student would be able to quickly barricade the door if a shooter lurked just down the hallway.
This time, the anxiety rallied these self-described “mama bears” into action.
“We’re tired of it,” Mahon said. “It’s like, OK, nobody’s going to do anything about this: Our government, our state government, our national government.
“We’re the moms, and these are our kids. What can we do?”
Instead of waiting until the next school board meeting, they acted. They began to refine McEntee’s idea to help secure every classroom in the small district — about 50 rooms total.
They added the PTO president to the thread. They reached out to school administrators.
Principal Chuck Banks already was familiar with the devices. While nothing is a sure preventative, Barnes considers them a valid deterrent to improve the chances that students might be defended or given enough time to escape.
Banks helped guide his teachers through the training to be certified in ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) that helps students systematically flee rather than cower beneath their desks and wait to be slaughtered.
So Banks helped the moms estimate that about $100 per classroom would cover devices to secure the doors, as well as fill a bucket with other emergency supplies (50 rooms x $100 = $5,000).
The moms began by donating money to cover their own children’s classrooms.
They reached out fellow parents and local business owners. By the end of the day they hit their $5,000 goal.
‘It’s just completely scary’
Mahon, a nurse and anesthetist at the local hospital, is among of a growing number who recognize these mass shootings as an American disease that is not confined to certain regions or neighborhoods.
“It just doesn’t matter anymore if it’s city or it’s rural or urban,” she said. “It’s happening everywhere. And it’s going to infiltrate every school. It’s just completely scary.”
The fact that some of his parents were “willing to do anything they can to help protect those kids” overwhelmed Banks with gratitude.
“It kind of makes you sad at the same time that we have to have that discussion,” Banks added. “But it does give you a little bit more relief knowing that we’re just doing one more thing to possibly help those kids.”