Suspicious incident reported at Hacker Middle School

This 10-year-old did very well in departing the scene and also reporting some potentially helpful details.

Regrettably, there were no adult school, or law enforcement representatives present to prevent this contact from happening in the first place, despite the luring off and molestation of a 6-year-old girl from school grounds only a couple of weeks ago.

Are you waiting for a corpse before you take a proactive stance?

I think that you need to stop blaming the teachers and law enforcement, they have more things to do then sit around and wait for something to happen. Maybe its time to blame the sickos living in this town. And if you want things to get better, maybe you should go out and help a little. If you have time to complain about it all maybe you could be using that time volenteering as a duty at the school.

What should really be done is that parents get together with neighbors and form a "neighborhood block watch". All times of the day, especially during school hours, would be a great thing to have in all neighborhoods which surround schools, churches, parks, rec. centers, and shopping malls. The major areas where children do hang out with friends and by themselves.

All family members should be part of this in order to make our neighborhoods a much safer place!

It is my opinion that this recent incident is not the fault of anyone other than the man who tried to lure the child with a picture. It's sad to say, however, there are some very sick people out there.

This isn't a case of a child being left alone unsupervised after school, this was during school hours. So, now you want police and parents to be outside watching during school hours for anyone who may be trying to abduct a child?

Bruce, nothing is stopping you from going to the school and watching out for the students there. Did you contact the woman from the other article who was wanting to get parents together to help after school? If not, you should, she could use your help.

ItsJustMeAgain,

You missed my point. We ALREADY pay people to be caretakers of our children during the school day. They are generally known as teachers and school administrators. They are the first line of defense and responsible for what happens on school property.

If parents could realistically quit their jobs and volunteer at the public schools they may be willing to do that. Quite likely, they would choose to home school instead.

Mr. Gibson,

We pay the teachers to do just that teach and make every effort to ensure the safety of our children while under their care. They do an excellent job of this despite putting in long hours and for little pay. I agree with others and if you feel so strongly about ensuring the safety of children from the time they leave home until they return, step up to the plate and help or step aside and be quiet. All though I have no children in the school system currently, when my children went to the school, I took their safety as my duty and helped out where and when I could. Never once did I sit at home and complain that they needed to do more.

The next Mountain Home School Board Meeting is on Tuesday, October 16th at 7:30 p.m. in the School District Office. Let's share the concerns of our children's safety with them and offer suggestions on how they can be improved.

Also, the Idaho Department of Education website (www.sde.idaho.gov) has a Safe & Secure Schools Survey that can be filled out. All parents should complete this assessment. It asks questions such as our overall school security, areas of improvement and your personal opinions. I emailed Mr. Tom Luna, Idaho's State Superintendent of Public Education, regarding funding for security updates for Mountain Home schools. He stressed the importance of completing this survey. They secured funding for this study so they will know the status of safety and security in Idaho school buildings across the state and areas they need to improve on in the future. With the information from this study, they we be able to request resources from the State Legislature and/or the Federal Government. Maybe with the extra funding, along with the money our district already receives from the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program, we can purchase security-related items such as surveillance cameras, handheld radios and electronic door locks in the future.

Bruce, are you suggesting that the teachers should be outside between classes in order to make sure that no one is driving down the street and tries to abduct a child? Considering the small amount of time that exists between classes, that just isn't going to be possible. Considering the things that could happen to children inside, while teachers are outside, I guess we could be looking at lawsuits for things that happen to children while the teachers are outside looking for suspicious activity.

Children can't be watched 24 hours a day 7 days a week. They can't be walked to and from each class every day. It is unreasonable to expect that teachers be outside between classes, before and after school, maybe, between classes, no way.

In this instance, the child did the right thing, went inside and told about what happened. With the description of that car, I cant' see that it would take long to find the person who owns it. Maybe there should be some kind of buddy system if a child has to be outside, maybe a big fence should surround the school and keep the children away from the street.

I agree that something needs to be done, maybe it is the forming of a sort of school watch, who is going to do that though? One woman has tried and got no response, or last I heard she had no response. Our police and teachers can only do so much, they are not to blame for what is happening.

ItsJustMeAgain

Nicely Said. I agree with you compeltly.

Thank you Smalltowndrama3. I see people ready to point a finger, mostly at the wrong people.

I realize that our kids can't be watched 24/7. My point is that they should be able to be on school property during school hours and have a degree of safety. Remember, it was just a few weeks ago we had a 6-year old become a victim of a molester. SIX years old.

When did we start sending six-year old kids out to fend for themselves? And, how sorry is that?

Bravo!!! to the parents of this child!! He did exactly what he should have done.

Educating your children before a tragedy can prove to prevent one!!

WE didn't send a six year old out to fend for herself, her parent did, by making her wait for over an hour for him. You seem to forget that the six year old was waiting for a parent who was late, for an hour and 15 minutes.

That situation is totally different than a child who was outside between classes during school hours. There was a degree of safety, the child went into the school and told the proper people about what happened. What more could be done? An escort between every class? That is not a realistic solution to the problem.

Safety starts at HOME. Parents need to educate and reeducate on a daily basis about not talking to strangers, not going with strangers, running, yelling and getting the attention of anyone they can when a stranger tries to take them awaym that is where it begins.