Editor’s Note: Jeff Pearlman is the author of “Football for a Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL”. He is also the host of the “Two Writers Slinging Yang” podcast. Follow him @jeffpearlman. The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author. View more opinion articles on CNN.
A couple of months ago, my wife, kids and I gathered around the dinner table.
Yet another school shooting had taken place in the United States of America, and while I can’t remember which one it was, I do know that people died, that parents felt helpless, that the NRA-funded far-right pols were spewing the company line. I know that Donald Trump blathered on about bump stocks and that no one seemed to have an answer.
So, turning toward Casey, my 15-year-old high school sophomore, and Emmett, my 12-year-old seventh grader, I said: What if every classroom is supplied a big bowl of rocks?
The words came out, and I couldn’t believe it. Did I just suggest flinging stones at armed killers? Did I just …
There was a brief pause, then Emmett said, “Well, how would that work? What would that do?”
My imagination began to run wild: “You know,” I replied, “if there’s a lockdown, and an active shooter is roaming the hallways, the teacher hands every kid a rock from the bowl. Then, if the shooter enters the room, everyone throws a rock at him. Like, the teacher screams, ‘Throw!’ and they all throw.”
Casey nodded. “That’s not the worst idea,” she said. “Twenty rocks at a time – that’d hurt.”
Emmett disagreed. “It’s dumb, Dad,” he said. “Someone with a machine gun isn’t going to be stopped by a bunch of rocks.”
I asked if, perhaps, the teacher should have a gun. Could my kids imagine Mrs. Smith or Mr. Jones whipping out a Glock? Neither child thought that wise.
“Honestly,” Casey said, “I think the rocks are a better idea.” And here we are.
In America.
Land of innovation and invention.
Debating whether a bowl of rocks could help stop an active shooter.
Sigh.
In the wake of yesterday’s Highlands Ranch, Colorado, tragedy, I am once again at a loss. As, I’m sure, are the vast majority of people reading this. Can we, as a society, do something to protect our children while they’re at school? Can we do anything? Is the whole thing a lost cause?
Even now, more students are fighting back, throwing themselves in the path of oncoming bullets, as did 18-year-old Kendrick Castillo, who charged at the Highlands Ranch shooter – and was shot dead. We celebrate the bravery of such young people; Castillo’s actions let his classmates escape.
We need to be asking ourselves how, in God’s name, is this what it’s come to?
It turns out the rocks idea has actually been both considered and (to my shock) implemented by the Blue Mountain School District in Pennsylvania. It’s a strategy that is, more than anything, an indictment of our inability to get anything done on this issue.
I can say, without exaggeration, that I now think about my children being shot in the head every … single … morning. When I drop Casey off at the curbside entrance to her place of learning, I usually say, quietly, “Be careful.”
“Um, OK,” is the standard reply.
Casey finds this weird, because in her still-innocent-enough world of water polo and beach barbecues and Green Day songs, she doesn’t feel particularly worried. Neither does my son, who is more preoccupied with robotics than life or death.
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They’re simply too young and too naive to fully grasp what I feel – the dread, the terror, the heartache. Sure, they’ve gone through lockdown drills (who hasn’t in 2019?). But until a shooting affects you, or your friend, or your neighbor, preparing for it is not real.
Toward the end of our rocks conversation, Casey admitted that – at times – the lockdown drills can be scary.
“I just don’t know what you’re supposed to do,” she said, “when you’re staring at a gun in your face.”
I had no answer.
I still don’t.