Campbell County School Shooting

Ok, I was a hard-liner on zero tolerance offenses and when the Superintendent and School members turned soft, in my opinion, due to liberal thinking. I complained. I ranted and raved. I got at least two 30 day delays. In my 4 years on the School Board, I can only recall 2 cases, where after I read all the supporting material, I would support a lesser sentence for a zero tolerance offense. Public Education must teach every child, but it must also protect all the children and the employees. But today in Knox County, TN there is no real punishment for bringing a crack pipe, smoking crack or a carrying a gun. If you don't like going to school 7 hours during the day, get kicked out and come back 3 hours at night. I digress.

When I first heard of the Campbell County High School shooting yesterday, I thought of the families of the administrators that had been wounded. I prayed for the principals and their families. I thought about my friends on the Campbell County School Board, Bobby Snodderly, Mark A. Wells, Sarge Collins, Homer Rutherford and Mary Michelle Gillum. The other members of the Campbell County School Board are; Bo Buckner, Johnny Byrge, Walter Goins, Eugene Lawson, Faye Heatherley and the Director Dr. Judy Blevins. What a tough time for this community. A community that I have traveled through the past 18 years in my sales position. A big/little mountain community, that I would love to call home.

As the news continued throughout the day, I was numb.

The young man was identified, with his identity it was revealed that he is 15 years old. (Knoxville News-Sentinel reported today 11/9/2005 that he is 14)I have a son that is 15 years old. What a shock to this family. But then at 7:00 p.m. the CBS affiliate WVLT goes to a live shot at the Campbell County Hospital, Campbell County Sheriff Ron McClellan and Capt. Don Farmer emerge with this young man in handcuffs.

I couldn't believe it. What an innocent looking child. The first thing that came to my mind was he is somebody's baby.

I go back in my mind as a father, 15 years ago, holding my first child, a boy, my son. Thinking to myself, Wow, He is going to change the world. I am sure Kenny Bartley's father was thinking the same thing and now he has this to wrestle with. I am now thinking of all the people I have already mentioned but now I am thinking of Kenny Bartley's parents, grandparents, family members, and him. Last night, he spent his first night of many in custody, in jail.

Now I am an avid listener to talk radio, but today I turned it off. I was fed up with people calling in with their psychology, medical and parenting degrees. Everybody that has never met this boy or his family blaming medication, family, peer influences, computer games, Hollywood. Maybe that was part of the blame, I don't know and You don't know.

The Bottom line is .........Leave Them Alone....

Leave all the families alone. They have to put themselves back together. Principal Bruce is not coming home, his family has a lot to deal with. Principal Seale and Pierce will hopefully return home, but they must heal and they have a lot to deal with. Kenny Bartley is now in jail and will be prosecuted as an adult according to Attorney General Wayne Paul Phillips. Leave that family alone. Leave the Campbell County School Board and System alone, they are trying to figure out what went wrong on their end and will correct it. Leave the community alone, they will heal with time. Just...Leave them alone...If they need us, they will ask.