Shannon Wright

Today is the 28th anniversary of  Shannon Wright’s death. She stood between a bullet and a child. Shannon died, the child lived. The young shooters did not extinguish their own lives.

Shannon’s actions resonated in my entire being on March 24, 1998. The trajectory of my life changed that day because I knew it was too late for Shannon but not for my class and school. 

If you do not do anything else today, please give a prayer of thanksgiving for Shannon. And ASK yourself, does a situation in a school have to get so bad that students and staff have to die.

I will never forget. The news will not allow it. But, more importantly, Shannon deserves to be remembered.

Marian R Carlino

March 24,2026 

I have fallen and I can’t get up.

Senior citizens and adults, with aging parents, know about panic buttons. There are many commercials, advising of the usefulness of the technology. These necklace devices may be the difference between life and death. Imagine if NG in Arizona had one, would her disappearance still be unresolved? I have not heard any of the commentators analyze that scenario. This button has been around a long time. When accidents happen, time is of the essence.

Now in 2026, we heard in the trial of Colin Gray, the teacher, in the Apalachee High School,  testified that she pushed a button on a device she wore around her neck. Her story is sad. Thankfully, the school had a plan; even so, murders did happen. A child's 911 call is on this video also. 

https://youtu.be/uhbg6k-hHaw?si=lYsStu7rUmwpzXIt

In my book, I wrote of panic buttons at a University. I saw them myself in rooms used for instruction in one of the most iconic buildings in Pittsburgh. A newspaper article advised of them also. The university had experienced trouble, but not a massacre on the campus.

Panic button technology used in schools is now part of the cottage industry that has grown in response to school shootings. Not that long ago, we only had wall phones in classrooms. Back when I was teaching, if a teacher had a cell phone, using it could result in discipline action. Calling 911 without administrative permission was not encouraged either.

Cell phones in classrooms are still debated but like most technology, they can be used to solve problems or create more issues. Hmm..kind of like a gun, car, knife, penis, fist etc. The use of a cell phone is only as good as the "heart" is of the person holding it. (Read Controlling the Trigger in this blog.)

Panic buttons on a person are for the rescue and recovery stage of accidents/violence. When do you use Northstar in your car?

In looking through videos, it has been years since this technology has been in consideration. This video is 7 years old.

https://youtu.be/VbDEX6iAYvQ?si=auxsWN1Lo45Mcb8v 

12 years ago at a front desk a silent alarm:

chttps://youtu.be/SGewQ3jsU9Q?si=iLyfJpKXcOoyeKx5

You can research companies, videos, school bus safety buttons. Techology is grand. But as we see in many situations, it is an astute person or even an animal that can detect an issue before panic has to set in.

Pray for our children. And, use your gut instinct. It just may be the difference in prevention or rescue and recovery.

ASK..your school district if teachers have panic buttons. Also ask for violence reports and pay attention to your own kids.

Marian R. Carlino

March 20, 2026

Killers do research of other school shooters. Are you paying attention?

Are you paying attention? 

Kids who kill, regardless of the weapon used, do research. They may not do research on benign subjects for school assignments but 20/20 autopsies show a deep interest and research into other murders. 

Months of planning the murders is what the court found. Bombs and explosives searched so the gun in the case highlighted below, was not the only weapon used or planned to be used.

You think your kids deserve privacy on a computer, think again.

The first person in this trial was mutilated with a knife, the younger brother murdered the older brother. Then the killer took his killing to the streets with a gun. The killer said he stole the gun and he hated people. 

People in the neighborhood, out just for a walk or running or doing their job, were maliciously murdered.

A school was spared this time. 

Foreseeable.   Well planned.  Not insane.  

People in the neighborhood.  

Act locally at home, school and  community for prevention.  

Different videos of the trial are in links below. The judge does highlight the victims. No due process for the victims, including a dog.

Parents said no red flags proceeding the murders. Did anyone look in his room at least for dirty laundry? The killer did not like his mother per the note written. 

His teachers testisfied for the defense. They did not see warning signs. 

Who did?  Did James, the brother who no longer can speak?

The shooter survived a self inflicted gunshot to the head and was cleared to stand trial. 

https://youtu.be/8uueSwb1jQA?si=ujrpmEX-NtFS7hkO

 https://youtu.be/cFQDPOHL2DU?si=kfAg66cx7PyCL1Oy

https://youtu.be/2NMQmaOTEEM?si=TRAqNMMEirjMLVlO

https://youtu.be/OMkTR0_SCh0?si=2V_WFRU1n1PgQuMj

https://youtu.be/XUM1K2S4Hms?si=DYZF5i-UgoSQ0ozm

https://youtu.be/jjiBIhVxumc?si=9KC6bR5IwVLEZvBv

Marian R. Carlino

March 7, 2026

 

Parents can go to trial and be found guilty of involuntary manslaughter Crumbley parents, Oxford High School 2021

With so much going on in the world, why focus on what seems to be isolated cases regarding school violence?  

Have you heard the phrase or slogan, “think globally, act locally”? I believe we have the greatest impact when we act locally. Locally doesn’t have to mean anything more than within the walls of your own home, whether you live alone or in a family. The Gray family in Georgia and the Crumbley family in Michigan are real examples of letting violence spill from their home into the school community. The impact is at least national. So many YouTube videos prove my point.

What we do, does matter. Keep water running in your apartment, and it could flood 4 other apartments. Trust me, I have first hand experience with someone flooding my apartment and 3 others. Maybe your tree grows roots that are from an invasive  species, and it ruins a neighbor’s grass. Yes, I actually published an editorial on that issue.

When children act violently in a classroom, in general a well controlled public setting, chances are high that the behavior is not unique to the school setting. Have you heard of the expression “street angel, house devil”? Public persona is important to most people unless one is a sociopath or psychopath.. Most normal people let their “hair down” at home and can act with respect and appropriately in public. So red flags should be considered when the home beliefs and behaviors spill into the public sector especially when the behaviors are violent.

If you tell me that the kid acting out in school gives no problem at home, I would say you are living with a bucket on your head. 

The current trial under way in Georgia  and the 2024 trial of the parents of the Oxford High School shooter were a long time in coming.

If you are a parent, family member, work in a school, are a licensed physician or psychiatrist, or a person not living under a rock, these trials have more than local impact. The trial is public. Fortunately, the media took an interest. The Georgia father’s trial is streaming on many YouTube channels.

I also think school districts hold culpability if direct knowledge is known or illegal access to the school is allowed due to negligence or the “nothing can happen here” mentality. To some  2021 and 2024 are ancient history. The 2025 and 2026 school years have examples of school shootings too. 

With each shooting, more constraints are on put on others who are truly innocent.

Maybe a reminder is needed of when you know something, say something. Do not falsely accuse, but concerns are usually validated. 

April is a huge anniversary month for school shootings. The Columbine Effect is real. Copycat crimes are real. Prevention verses intervention verses rescue and recovery, choose wisely. It is true, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say.

And for global sake, don’t buy your troubled or mentally ill child a gun. Sometimes the gun is turned on the family members first. Kip Kinkle in May 1998 and Adam Lanza in 2012. Don’t let your local area become a global scandal.

https://www.youtube.com/live/Z6Kum4amxc8?si=iICw5WMJPUH0UiwS 

Think locally, act globally. 

Marian R. Carlino

March 1, 2026