Editorial
Consequent upon the cold-blooded and brutal murder which happened on the grounds of the St. Mary’s R.C. School in La Fillette just about two weeks ago, a special meeting was convened of parents and community persons to address the security of the school. That was indeed a very commendable and insightful effort for which the Principal and Staff must be recognized and congratulated.
Persons making presentations at the session – School Manager, Guidance & Counselling Supervisor, GUT representative and Police Officer, all had some very pertinent and current pieces of advice for the assembly, which were well received. It is quite unfortunate, but it is also the reality, that steps have to be taken which, implicitly, translate to mistrust.
It all boils down to who must be trusted and who must not be trusted. The bottom line is still about where does someone draw the line between doing a charitable act in the name of Christianity and refrain from doing a charitable act in order to protect oneself against harm and danger.
It is understood that the young assailant solicited and received food from the kitchen of the school on that day. Subsequently, he was bold enough to further solicit a dollar from an unsuspecting gentleman who, upon refusal, lost his life. The good kitchen staff at the St. Mary’s R.C. School are not the only ones who charitably give food to the needy; many other school kitchens throughout the nation do that and for as long as one can remember. Intrinsically, there is nothing wrong with that.
This raises a question or two. Is there a rule some where that outsiders must not be fed from the school kitchen? If that is the case then there could be some measure of guilt. The same old conditional assertions begin to arise: If the kitchen had known, they would not have given him food; if the victim had known, he would not have refused the dollar. That is now history and, as the believer would say, in the hand of God.
In light of the tragic incident, and particularly the way it happened, the school necessarily has to take certain precautionary measures especially coming out of the session. Even beyond that, other school kitchens who have been practicing charity had better take warning.
Strange, unknown and suspecting individuals should not be allowed to loiter around the schools’ compound. If the school is fenced then those kinds of individuals have no right, and should have no access through the gates. Schools which compound is not fenced should be fenced and schools without security should consider employing such. Then the question arises as to who would guard the guards. The young man on the compound of the St. Mary’s R.C. School was not unarmed. It means that consideration must be given to arming security guards and to what degree they must be armed.
All schools and suchlike should take a page from the example of St. Mary’s R.C. School. They should not wait until tragedy strikes at their doorsteps. They should see the need to organize such forum whereby a spiritual leader and a police officer can debate the best option. It would seem commonsensical and obvious that genuine Christian charity has to take second place to safety and security, particularly where the nation’s children are concerned. Congratulations, once again, to the St. Mary’s R.C. School for taking that initiative.
