Visiting Day

After a few years off I went to visiting day at my son's sleepaway camp. It was great to see him but I kept thinking about one of my ultimate nightmare events. A terrorist or a group of them come to a remote camp with weapons and starting to wipe out defenseless children. This scenario played out in Norway last week and demonstrates how lacking in security these camps are.

These camps are located in remote regions where hundreds of kids concentrate in a small area. The police forces in these rural towns are probably ill-equipped to handle any attack. There is unlikely any alert system in place to notify the outside world what is happening in these isolated locations so the terrorist would have plenty of time to do his thing before anyone knew. I doubt these camps are armed with any weapons to defend themselves. There is no fence to prevent entry into the camp and there is not even a guard at the front entrance preventing anyone from entering. This is a total recipe and invitation for trouble and is a perfect example of where we need to be proactive and not wait until disaster happens and be reactive.

Solutions include obtaining a security analysis from an expert to determine the best strategy to prevent and combat an attack. There must be a gate for entry not directly in the front of the camp but rather at the entrance to the final dirt road that leads to the camp. The camp must be equipped with alarms and systems to notify the authorities. The local police must be trained in counter-terrorism and be on patrol.

Finally, and most important the kids over a certain age must be trained in security and know what to do in the case of an attack. They must learn how to stand patrol and take shifts through the day and night to protect the camp. They should learn how to use and respect firearms. My son's camp has a paintball course with rifles and learn to use these guns with target practice and competing teams. They learn the critical safety instructions in using these "weapons" and plan strategies to overcome their opponent. I had the opportunity to talk with the head of the paintball activity who is an Israeli who just spent the last three years in an elite fighting force of the Israeli army. What a wonderful opportunity for our children to be instructed by these premier soldiers. Our kids get to have a taste of what it is like to defend themselves and a nation as well as to have exposure to someone who can satisfy their curiosity about the IDF.

If we think we can sit here in the US while our brothers in Israel do all the dirty work to defend the Jewish people and nation we are sadly mistaken and will lead to our peril. Enough with the heavy concentration in sports. We should know it is only a matter of time until the Jews are blamed and rounded up. What will a good jump shot do for us then? We need to be proactive and our children need to grow up in an environment where they feel the threats against them and the absolute need to learn self-defense.