If the past year has been any indication, from situations ranging from school shootings to fl ooding and stormy weather from Hurricane Florence, it’s that anything can happen. We need to prepare ourselves, our places of employment, our homes and our families for scenarios that are out of our control. We can do this by taking action for the things we can control.

This is why it is so important and so commendable that the Offi ce of the Governor in Virginia recently awarded approximately $6 million to 102 school divisions throughout Virginia, including to schools in Lunenburg County.

Lunenburg was announced to have received $28,580 for the division’s elementary, middle and high schools.

These funds, according to Lunenburg County Public Schools Superintendent Charles Berkley, could pay for cameras, handheld radios, visitor badge systems and employee badge systems at all school facilities.

The reality of video monitoring systems and badge systems in schools can be sobering. We might expect those items in courthouses, county offices or correctional centers, but perhaps not so much within institutions of learning for children from grades K-12. However, anything can happen, and that’s something our schools’ administration, faculty, staff and parents recognize more quickly than the rest of us.

They daily face the challenging tasks of fostering learning for students while also making sure students are kept as secure as possible from threats both outside and inside the school.

Because violence very often happens within school walls, from fellow students and faculty, Lunenburg County Public Schools recently released a proclamation dedicating the school division to recognizing October as Bullying Prevention Month, using techniques and models from the Virginia School Board Association to address bullying among the school division in ways that are healthy and effective.

I commend the Office of the Governor, and administration and employees of Lunenburg County Public Schools for thoroughly investing in the safety of our young people.

EMILY HOLLINGSWORTH is a staff reporter for The Kenbridge- Victoria Dispatch and Farmville Newsmedia LLC. Her email address is Emily.Hollingsworth@ KVDispatch. com.