from An American Illusion

           “They were shooting babies on the playground today.”   
 
These are the words uttered by Shawn as we all pick her up from an October day of Kindergarten at a public school in Ventura, Ca.  After discussing this with Babe for a few minutes, I go to the school office, wait my turn, and ask about the shooting of babies.  The secretary, obviously overwhelmed by her new job description, explains that a shooter with a BB gun had shot some of the children on the playground at recess that morning.  The police were summoned but they were unable to find the perpetrator.  That evening an article appeared in the local Ventura newspaper quoting the principal who said that since no one had been seriously injured, that school would resume normally the following day.  The next morning we removed Shawn from this school and enrolled her at a local Catholic school in their kindergarten class.  They assured us that no babies ever had been shot at their school.