Complicating the Past

Complicating the Past

Dear Traumatized Troubadours,The other day I was listening to a news segment on the radio where educators were discussing the traumatic effects of active-shooter drills in schools. At stake was the concern that the anxiety created by focusing on the possibility of tragedy may outweigh the advantage of preparedness. Growing up in the shadow of the Cold War when duck-and-cover was a quarterly all-school activity, I do not recall any decompression sessions when we processed the anxiety created by a preparedness drill that posited the annihilation of life on the planet. But it was a simpler time. These were the days before children were infused with psyche;