There aren't many invariable rules in life, but I'm pretty sure this is one: if you hear someone say "his lack of presence" when he means "his absence," you're dealing with a bureaucratic mentality, possibly in its terminal stages.  Look out for trouble.

Not long ago, according to this article, in North Coventry, Pennsylvania, a father arrived at the West-Mont Christian Academy intending to talk to a kindergarten teacher about his child who is a student there (Daily Local, 11/18/09).  He talked to a teacher who walked with him to a public lobby where he was to wait to talk to his child's teacher.  While waiting, the man went upstairs and looked at some student artwork that was displayed in a hallway.  The kindergarten teacher arrived, they talked and the man left.

Now, if I were the school administrator, I wouldn't be too concerned about any of that.  But the administrator was Dr. James Smock and Dr. James Smock is a man who says "his lack of presence" when he means "his absence."  And that, if my rule holds true, means trouble.  Judge for yourself.

When confronted with the threat of a father talking to a teacher about his kindergarten-age child, and moreover a father who might have seemed agitated and who had left the premises, Dr. Smock took action.  He "locked down" the school, took the children out of classes and placed them all in the gymnasium.  He called the police, the K-9 Korps and the fire department.  The police called the Emergency Response Team.  They in turn blocked off the streets immediately surrounding the school.  Residents huddled in their houses afraid to set foot outdoors, as police officers swarmed over the buildings, grounds and rooftops, pistols unholstered and held aloft.

The man, of course, was never found, having left the premises long before.  In any case, he is known to school staff and "not considered a threat."

The "incident" began at 7:55 a.m. and ended almost three and a half hours later.  In other words, an entire morning was wasted.  How many police and fire department personnel were involved, we don't know.

Would a mother's presence (lack of absence?) at her child's school occasion such hysterics?  If a mother came to her child's school, spoke with a teacher briefly about little Johnny and then left, would the administration call the police and fire department, lock down the school and terrorize the neighbors?  Don't we all know the answer?

Students ourselves, we've learned our lesson well: men are dangerous to children.  Never mind that year after year, statistics show more children to be hurt or killed by women than by men.  The misandric part of our public discourse teaches us otherwise and there's essentially nothing that tells us the truth.

So after the whoop-di-do died down, Dr. Smock issued a press release that read in part,

Because of our cooperation with the police department here and our safety team that was in place, no children were at risk.

The truth of course is that the police, the dogs and the fire department had nothing to do with it.  No children were ever at risk.  Period. 

But Dr. Smock would never say that.

Thanks to Pankaj for the heads-up.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 2:46 pm and is filed under Fatherhood. You can trackback from your own site.