Bud the Teacher

    Our community lost a young man this week in a situation that, frankly, frightens me.  Last week, a shooting of the boyfriend of one of our alumni occurred.  The two events are related — both gang-involved events.  Horrible events, at that.
    When I was at the gym last evening, I took occasional glances at the TV screens on the wall in front of my workout equipment.  Almost all of the nine channels were turned to local or national news channels.  All of those were flashing images of the recent developments in the Holloway case.  How many times do we need to hear that particular story?  Certainly, the disappearance of someone’s daughter is news  and awful news at that; but how did that particular young lady’s story capture the attention of so many reporters, while other deaths and disappearances didn’t  or don’t make a mark?
    Why do some stories get so much attention in the media, while others are neglected?
    And how do teachers deal with the real issues of the day in the midst of frightening extracurricular events like these?  Frankly, learning about language arts right now doesn’t seem all that important.