Florida Today recently posted yet another announcement about a new database they’ve created. First, they had a database of predators, then a few months ago the created a database of code violations that you could look up to find out if your neighbors had any code violations.

Hint: Yes, the giant orange box truck in the side yard covered with weeds is in fact, a code violation. Now, get off the computer and go talk to your neighbor like a good citizen, instead of snooping on them over the internet.

Now, Florida Today seems to have found a new low. They created a database of campus incidents for schools around Brevard. Yes, if you are really bored, you could go pour through the various incidents that have happened at each public school.

Or you could take the hint that the very fact that such a database now exists, might be all the more reason to start considering some alternate form of education rather than public schools.

Sadly, Florida Today just uses the information to drive traffic to their website. Looking at the kind of data, for the general public, is the equivalent of rubber-necking, another reason why Florida Today seems bent on publishing as many photos of car accidents as possible.

Florida Today misses a few points. First, with rare exception, your children go to the public school that is convenient to your home. You can’t cherry-pick one public school over another, and as this database shows, why would you want to? Once you are in Vietnam, it hardly matters if you are in a DMZ or enemy-controlled territory. Don’t let Florida Today lull you into believing that being informed by this data can make you a better parent. It can’t.

So, stop googling your neighbors, checking on their code violations, and looking up tobacco incidents at Suntree Elementary (there have been none according to Florida Today) and get out in the community and be present. Go to school board meetings if you care about the public school system. That’s where the real crimes are committed each month.