Before I get into my tirade, which I assure you is coming shortly, let me first wish everyone a pre-emptive Happy New Year. It is still only New Year's Eve, but in my mind, it is never to early to start the sentiments flowing. So with that out of the way, lets get going here. The sickening turn of events that I alluded to in my title is in reference to the Newtown school massacre. According to both local news and the New York Times, it appears that a lawyer out of New Haven is requesting permission to sue the state for a $100 million dollars on behalf of an un-named six year old girl who survived the shooting, yet suffered "emotional and psychological trauma and injury." Despite the fact that she survived, the lawyer claims that education officials failed to protect his client. That right there is surprising to me because she survived. If they failed to protect her, she would not be here right now. Granted there is the factor of "emotional and psychological trauma", but I am pretty sure that similar trauma occurred with almost every survivor, both child and adult, and with the first responders. But lets continue before I get sidetracked. This lawyer alleges that because someone (the deceased principal) turned on the school's intercom system, the young girl heard screams, gunshots, and conversations that contributed to the trauma she suffered. Going even further, he states that the state Board of Education, the Department of Education, and state education commissioner failed to protect the child "from foreseeable harm". In essence, they failed to provide a safe school setting. The only bright side to this whole lawsuit is that it has not been filed yet. In order to sue the state of Connecticut, lawyers must first request permission to file such a suit, which in my mind, is one more measure in place to stop this before it ever begins. To even put in a request to file such a suit is ludicrous in my mind, not even considering the fact that the shooting occurred a little over two weeks ago. I understand the lawyer is just doing his job, but he also has the ability to not file the lawsuit for whatever reason and pass it on to someone else. He claims it is not about the $100 million dollars he is asking for, but rather about increasing school security. That right there is the icing on the cake that makes this one dessert from hell.
So what is the big problem that I have with this lawsuit? The first issue is that a request to file was put in not even two weeks after the school shooting occurred. Families are still grieving and if this goes through, the fresh wound will be opened up for scrutiny and victim's families could potentially be dragged through the muck and mire of the lawsuit. I personally don't agree with almost any lawsuit, but this one just seems over the top ridiculous and just the claim that it is not about the money, but rather about improving school safety is hogwash. I guarantee that if the $100 million dollars is granted to either this girl who is currently named "Jill Doe" for privacy reasons or her family, not a single penny of it will go towards improving school security. If this lawsuit were really about improving school security, wouldn't it make more sense to put a small token monetary amount on the suit and instead have the money go towards actually improving school security? Just a thought, but a hundred million dollars is not chump change, and this is all for a girl who survived the shooting, was able to be with her parents for Christmas, and will get to go back to school and live her life. The fact that she is alive can be at least partially attributed to the fact that the school's intercom system was turned on so that everyone in the school could hear what was going on and react according the security measures that were already in place. If the school's intercom system was not turned on by "someone" (which we all know was the deceased principal), the massacre could have been much worse and this young girl could have potentially been among the victims, not the survivors. The full investigation has not even been completed yet and already the fingers are being pointed to place blame for a child's "emotional and psychological trauma". No amount of money is going to make this incident go away and it sure as hell won't restore the young girl's mental state to what it was prior. Trust me, I have nothing against this young girl who survived. I understand that the events were traumatic, but over time, people heal, and money won't heal those wounds. My big issue is with this lawyer, and most likely the parents of the young girl, who decided it would be a good idea to proceed with this lawsuit.
Perhaps one of my biggest issues (despite the lawsuit in general) is with some of the wording as it was reported. The lawsuit alleges that the above stated parties failed to protect this child (and I am assuming the rest of the school) "from foreseeable harm". That three word phrase right there boggles my mind in reference to what happened. I would ask anyone in this country, or perhaps the world, if they could have "foreseen" this tragedy occurring. That phrase would indicate that mass school shootings are a daily occurrence and should be expected. While school shootings have been on the increase, none of them are foreseeable, especially from a board of education point of view, and especially considering that in the Newtown case, the shooter had no ties to the school. How can something like this be foreseeable, and even if it was, what other measures could have been put in place aside from making the school a fortress. The shooter broke into the school in Newtown as the doors were locked, so its not like security was lacking at the school. Unless we address the issue that is causing these school shootings, no amount of security will make a difference. This lawsuit will do nothing to prevent shootings like this from occurring in the future. I hope that no more do occur, but this will do nothing to stop them. This lawsuit, in my mind, is simply an opportunity for the family of this young six year old survivor to profit from the tragedy, to profit from the death's of her school mates, and to spit in the face of all those who are still grieving. No one wishes this tragedy occurred, but a lawsuit is not going to change anything, especially when it seeks to take money away from a system that they hope will improve as a result of this lawsuit. In my mind, no part of this lawsuit makes sense and if I was the one deciding on this, I would throw it in the garbage and burn it (which is probably why I am not in a position to make any of those decisions). I do sincerely hope this young girl will recover from her alleged "emotional and psychological trauma", but dragging her through the court system (which she will be to testify) will only make things worse. I only hope the parents of this young girl see this, get the dollar signs out of their eyes, and work on improving their family instead of a system that is already functioning properly.
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