What’s the Worth of a Child’s Life?

Seventeen people, mostly children, died in last week’s Florida school slaughter.

Would a security system with metal detectors have thwarted the nineteen year old shooter?  Maybe.

At least it might have which is a lot more than “stricter” gun laws would have done. 

Seemingly after every mass shooting, whether at a a school or a shopping mall, the cry in the media goes up:  “Do Something!”

The usual answer to the “what?” is more gun control.  And that’s almost always the wrong response.  Typically, the laws would not have prevented this shooter from acquiring his arsenal.  His background set off no alarms.  And with millions and millions of firearms in this country (the 2^nd Amendment is alive and well), someone with an application that raises a red flag can always get his weapons illegally.

Well, what about mental health checks?  To be sure most mass killers leave a trail full of warning signs.  But how many millions of people in this country have serious mental problems and who do not gun-down fellow Americans?  Are we, as a country, supposed to detain or confine all of those who “might” become mass murderers?  And what about the person who first gives off deadly clues only when doing the killing?

Evil is and always has been a constant among humankind.  Lamenting its existence won’t make it disappear. Thus, ultimately, focusing on catching the would-be evil doer before the deed is not likely to be very successful. 

Reducing, if not entirely thwarting, the devastation of evil seems much more promising.

All 130,000 of the nation’s public and private schools should have security systems. 

Many schools already have them, for instance, New York City, Boston and Washington D.C.

Such systems are routinely present at professional sports stadiums – both football and baseball.  They are present at courts and government buildings, too.

So why don’t all have them?

Surprisingly, the cost is not prohibitive.  A metal detection machine is about $5000.  If every school had one, that would be $650 million.

Considering an annual Federal Budget in the trillions, that amount seems very palatable.

Our children’s lives are worth it.