The Greater Johnstown School District enters day two in limbo tomorrow, another day of school canceled because someone is alleged to have threatened to shoot up one or more schools.
Amy Arcurio, who pulls down the big bucks as school superintendent to make such decisions, came out early Tuesday evening, just as she had a day earlier, with a written release citing an “abundance of caution” as the reason for keeping students home the next day.
Specifics have been few. Our local media outlets, both electronic and print, have done more of their superficial examples of coverage. They take what is spoonfed to them and regurgitate it for your enlightenment. No digging. No depth of coverage.
This is not exactly stellar journalism, but it has come to be accepted here.
I recall the time years back when one outraged microphone jockey bristled that he had gone to a news conference and asked a question that the speaker refused to answer. Said I to the people with me watching this broadcast report at that time, “Commit journalism for God’s sake, Find a source to provide the information.”
It is a basic truth of journalism, with which I had a 35-year association, that once two people know something, it’s no longer a secret. If you have developed sources on your beat through the years, you can find out a lot of stuff no one wants you to know.
Compile enough background, enough off-the-record information, and you often easily move on to getting someone on the record.
But I no longer do this for a living, so I must rely on the so-called professionals working in this town to provide depth of coverage for me.
Since they’ve dropped the ball, I have some thoughts on all this.
First, Arcurio and her “abundance of caution” are merely the current verbiage for CYA – Cover Your A xx (butt). I’m not sure I blame her, but it sure is a sad commentary on our current society.
The odds are something like 9999-1 that anyone actually would “shoot up the place.” Schools already have police stationed on premises. There are security guards. There are metal detectors.
Plus, you’ve warned them something is coming, so there goes the element of surprise. I think I’d be more worried if my children attended other school districts, thinking that maybe the Johnstown threat was just a diversion if the individual making the threat had some intelligence to go along with the psychosis.
This threat likely was designed to do exactly what it did, exert control over people usually in a position of authority. Make them squirm and dance to your tune.
Their willingness to do the CYA two-step is both predictable and unfortunate.
A police spokesman was quoted by one media member along the line of they’re working on it. I hope so. I hope they are working so hard they’ve about got it down to a suspect or two and are moving to arrest said person.
But an arrest will solve little. If it is a juvenile or young adult, as is most likely the case, the public apologists will come out demanding compassion and forgiveness. Just poor judgment, don’t you know. Maybe a little slap on the wrist and some time in alternative school and all will be well.
I think something a little more draconian is in order. Maybe not execution, but how about life in prison?
Never happen, but imagine the deterrent if punks and idiots of all stripe knew the punishment for such ridiculous behavior would be severe in the extreme.
Lack of discipline has turned too many schools into indoor zoos. Similar lack of discipline, and punishment for slackers in the general population, has done the same with society writ large.
We are reaping the ills of years of benign neglect in terms of failing to hold individuals accountable for their actions.
If and when this threat runs its course and the suspects are nabbed, expect them to be dealt with lightly, emboldening others to perpetrate similar acts down the line.
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