Return of the Bunny Man.

As most of you know, I teach at an elementary school in inner-city Baltimore. What that means is that while I have an arsenal of cute, funny, etc. stories to tell about my kids, I also have a number of flat-out depressing stories to tell. I generally try to stay away from the depressing stories on my blog, but every once in a while a story comes along that I feel like sharing. This one falls into the bizarre and depressing category.

Every year (well, at least for the past 3 years that I have taught at my school) we get visited by the "Bunny Man". The kids often refer to the "Bunny Man" much in the way that the "Boogieman" was referred to in my childhood. An important difference between the two, however, is that the Bunny Man actually does exist.

The Bunny Man is a middle-aged man (also a known sex offender) who likes to terrorize our neighborhood and our school by running around naked except for big boots and some bunny ears. While he has been caught on school premises before by police, he always manages to find a way back. Also, he only seems to come out when it rains.

Today, he tried to sneak into the gym while some of our 2nd graders were there. Luckily, our heroic gym teacher managed to force him out and alerted the school. Within seconds the entire place was on lockdown while the Bunny Man ran around aimlessly in the playground. For ten minutes I acted like a fool to attract my student's attention and keep them from looking out of the window (it worked). By the time the police arrived he had already disappeared into the woods.

As serious as it is, what worries me most is how "normal" it all seems to me now. When I first heard that he was back my first reaction was to roll my eyes and feel like the new school year had officially begun. I cannot begin to imagine how big a deal something like this would have been in my elementary school growing up. My own students, on the other hand, encounter the Bunny Man (and other things they should not be encountering) on a semi-regular basis and all I can do is try my hardest to keep them safe for the 7 hours I have them every day.

And hopefully they'll learn a thing or two...

P.S. The bunny picture is just there for cuteness. It's semi-related, right??