Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes a mix of material from 11 contributing columnists, along with other commentary online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.
•••
As I write this, parents across Springfield, Ohio, are receiving those dreaded alerts: in phone, email and text. Bad news always comes in threes.
COME AND PICK UP YOUR CHILD. NOW.
Parents know the feeling when you see your child’s school phone number pop up on your phone. Instantly, your senses are heightened, your heart beats faster …
Earlier this week, when I got out of the shower (pretty much the only time I am ever unreachable as a parent) I saw that I had a missed call from my oldest son’s middle school. There was no voice mail.
I didn’t call back because I knew it would go to the main school number and with hundreds of students, how could I expect them to know why my son was calling me? I told myself it was something simple: a forgotten assignment, a missed lunch. If he was sick or in danger or in trouble, they would have left a message, right?
Still, I spent the rest of the day, while working and talking to colleagues, wondering about that phone call. How could I not?