Gregory Smith
Business Columnist
A father's worst nightmare

I wasn't prepared for what happened last week. I was in a meeting last Thursday when someone broke into the room to tell me there was a shooting at my kid's high school. I said to myself, "This couldn't be happening." But it did.

All of us who live here in Conyers will never forget that day. I broke all speed limits trying to get home. Fortunately, all the police were already at Heritage High School. The first thing I did when I got home was to hug my daughters. They were safe and unharmed. Six other children weren't so lucky.

Both my daughters attend Heritage High School here in Conyers. My 15 year-old was in the commons area when the shooting started. She and her friends were talking when bullets started flying. She was about six feet from one of the boys who was shot. She and others ran and hid under the school benches for protection. I thank God she wasn't hurt and I am thankful the other kids weren't hurt any worse than they were.

Even though our children weren't wounded, they as well as their parents will now carry the scars from this terrible event.

When I was in the military, we expected and were trained for this sort of thing. But no one expects this to happen to our kids. What's gone wrong?

This wasn't supposed to happen to us. This tragedy happened to a good school to good kids, to a good community who have good families. The scary thought is that it could happen againto any of us.

As a father, and as a person who feels he can make a difference, I have learned two things:

We must not be afraid to speak up about what is eating away at the bedrock and decency of our society. People today are looking for hope and answers.

There is no one thing or one person to blame. We all share in the responsibility. Instead of blaming, we need to examine our own lives. What are we allowing to happen to our society? Whether it is excessively violent movies, video games, guns in the home, both parents away at work, or an absence of religious faith, we all share in this failure of society.

Along with the bad, there are several good things that came out of this ordeal. I am proud of all the public, law enforcement and school officials who did a great job. I am proud of my community and the churches that pulled together.

I am proud of all the good kids that go to Heritage High School. I thank God for all my friends and family who showed they cared.

Both my daughters are doing better. Heather graduates this week and Hannah went shopping at the mall on Friday, so I know she is on the road to recovery.

Oh yes, they have been exempted from taking final exams. They are both happy about that. Sadly, all of them lost some of that childlike innocence that all of us parents have tried to protect.

I for one am willing to give up some of my rights in attempt to restore the safety and decency we once had when I was a kid. It is a shame that it is going to take tragedies at Littleton and Conyers to change America.

We as citizens have a great opportunity to make a tremendous difference.

My advice is simple. First, go hug your kids and realize that each day is a gift.

Secondly, don't sit back and think someone else is going to solve the problem; you must make the difference.

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