Schools to Shelter Children

I said I would write about games for children. But I am going to hold off with that because too much is in the way.

Today I am driven to writing about the poor children living in Moore, Oklahoma. They headed back to school today. Or what’s left of their schools.  http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/15/moore-tornado-plaza-towers-elementary-school-students/2660593/ 

Parents there are fighting for storm shelters.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/13/shelter-oklahoma-schools_n_3745843.html 

The state is too poor, like the nation is too poor, for safe, decent schools for everyone. So now parents in Moore are begging for help from the private companies and anyone who sees fit to donate. An oil company came through with $500,000 and businesses have chipped in as well. Good for them. But more is needed, and who is going to go the distance for expensive shelters? We are told a billion is needed.

So children, in the next tornado, will run next door to another school, or if they are lucky, their school will have a shelter. Some already do. Or, like before, they won’t be so lucky.  

I’d like to tell those families to leave—just move away. But the fact is most of us live near some kind of disaster waiting to happen. Still, schools should be front and center when it comes to building codes and safety. Children don’t choose to go to school. It is mandatory. We owe it to them to provide safe, clean decent buildings.         

If my memory is correct, everyone believed in school shelters immediately after the storm. After all, the disaster was fresh. But it only took a few days before officials began reneging. The cost…the cost…the cost.   

If you see fit to donate please do. Like it or not we live in a country that always has a poor mouth when it comes to schools in general and school buildings specifically.

It is costly. But so are football stadiums, as one commenter noted. I know I sound judgmental. But mostly I am just sad. I feel sorry for those families and the children, those lost and the survivors with nightmares.

And keep your fingers crossed and say your prayers there are no more tornadoes headed towards Moore in the future—or anywhere else for that matter.

Here is how to donate: http://shelteroklahomaschools.org/