School in NSW returned yesterday with more than the usual fanfare. The first day invariably makes the evening news - all those kindies are just too cute - but the current climate made its reporting an almost incendiary event.

Rather than just let schools get on with managing their cohorts in the best way they can and as well resourced as possible, the coverage (hand-wringing parents, concerned teachers) has done little but create yet another tsunami of panic. Its what the news media does so well these days. Laying it on thick, over and over again. So many angles but exactly the same view.

Tom and JJ, who are in Years 11 and 12 respectively, reported that everything appeared to run smoothly with little or no disquiet. What a surprise!