After the horrible school shooting in Parkland, Florida, parents and school administrators and government officials are all running around like chickens without heads trying to figure out a way to stop this from ever happening again.

And I have bad news for you: We cannot.

I get it. We are skittish. We’re nervous. But we cannot have mass paranoia and hysteria.

If you want your kids to feel secure going to school, you have to teach them the probability of school shootings happening versus the possibility of school shootings happening. You have to show them that you are not afraid. You have to explain to them that threats do not result in school shootings and never have. But above all, as an adult you need to understand that bad things are gonna happen in this world and some things simply cannot be prevented no matter how hard we try.

I understand that we are all doing everything in our power to try to make our kids as safe as possible. But there is one reality that people choose not to admit, and that is that no matter how safe you think things are, bad things can happen and people who are determined enough can get by any stumbling block you put in their way. The only way to be 100% sure that your child will not be involved in a school shooting is to stop sending him to school.

In Vineland, a 12-year-old student was arrested after he was heard saying he would bring a gun to school. There were multiple closings of schools in Nutley due to a song that references guns. Parents in Bayonne freaked out when their Bayonne High School “BHS” was confused with a New Mexico high school “BHS” in an online threat.

Let me reiterate that people who would want to inflict harm on students in schools do not threaten them first. School security is one thing. Mass hysteria is another.

Those parents and students who are lucky enough to believe in God will understand that a human being’s power is finite and eventually God decides. Those who don’t will hopefully have some other way of assuring their kids fears. But let’s do all that we can do and then remain calm, realistic and honest with ourselves about how much prevention is actually possible. And then pray to whomever or whatever you believe.

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Dennis & Judi are on the air weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tweet them @DennisandJudi or @NJ1015.

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