- There is the predictable one, where the proponents of gun control want to take away guns from everyone. This suggestion is easily dismissed. Officials can only get guns away from the law abiding citizens, the non-law-abiding will keep theirs, thank you very much. The obvious flaw in this plan is that it definitely makes us all less safe.
- There is the somewhat surprising solution offered by Wayne LaPierre, where the NRA proposes an armed guard at every school. This is a better solution. This will arguably make us more safe, and is clearly more effective than solution 1. It will, ironically, make us feel less safe, however. Has anyone felt safer as a result of being subjected to TSA patdowns? No, quite the opposite. Do we feel safer when we have to go through a metal detector to get into the civic center? No. Ultimately, a new federal bureaucracy of schoolhouse militia seems a step in the wrong direction, for this and a lot of reasons.
- Then there is my solution, one that I haven't heard from anyone yet. Simply disband the public school system. End it. By decommissioning all schools, we can get the children home where parents make independent arrangements for their children's education.
This third idea will eventually win out. Current standardized teaching and brick and mortar learning are outdated, and I say should be summarily dismissed. We must envision a new way of thinking about education. We should consider a system where the teaching and learning are so diverse, that different understandings and specializations naturally occur out of students' self directed interest.
Some of the need is efficiency. There's nothing efficient in teaching 30 kids the same lesson. Most of the time is spent waiting for other kids to learn. There's nothing efficient about school buses, cafeteria lines, or detention halls. The teachers among us can still be teachers, but they must be free to pursue education in a free market way; by offering education services and voluntarily joining with other like minded service providers. Maybe they offer instruction in their home. Maybe they offer it online. And maybe they choose to operate private schools with appropriate security. Then they wouldn't be a target rich environment like we have now.
Some of the need is to divest away from state programmed indoctrination. But that is a natural benefit of a higher purpose: for children to realize their dreams.
If we have to ask how we protect the children against these kinds of attacks, why isn't one of the questions: "Why do we group our children together like this?"? The answer to that holds a key to their ultimate safety.
