OT: At least 22 Dead at Virginia Tech

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Posted By: Andrew Parks

As an administrator of a school, I can somewhat relate to the decision-making processes of administrations. Obviously, we have never faced anything so tragic at our school, but an administrator's job is never easy. The thing I want to express is that none of us know what reports the administration received about the gunman or the incident after the initial shootings. Initial reports on TV and the internet was 1 dead, 9 injured and a gunman was apprehended. The administration waited two hours before they allowed normalcy to continue. Nothing prepared them for the second shootings - no training, no news, no anything could have allowed them to foresee a second tragedy. The local authorities no doubt told the administration that everything was fine and it was safe to resume classes.

Before you start screaming for heads to roll and placing blame, make sure you have all of the information correct first. Right now, parents and students are emotional - justiafiably so - and they are coping with their losses by means of anger and placing blame. I urge you not to fall into that dramatic trap of finger-pointing when we don't know what was reported or what occurred after the first shootings.

Cut the administration some slack! Nothing - not graduate level classes or past experience - can prepare an administrator for a situation like this.