A student at West High had his head stomped on, and the video spread through Madison almost instantly. The deeper truth, however, has moved much more slowly.
In this city, we often talk about school safety in soft, abstract language. We hold listening sessions and emphasize optimism, and we reassure ourselves that serious harm is something that touches other people’s children in other people’s neighborhoods.
That belief has always been fragile. The West High incident broke it completely…