I am angry.
A couple of weeks ago, we completed our annual active shooter practice with my
students.
students.
Every year, educators have a mandatory training in how to keep our students
safe in the event that there is a mass shooting on our campus. Then, we have
a drill to practice what to do if that were to ever happen. Students create
barricades in front of doors. They practice making barricades inside classrooms
to hide behind. We talk to them about defending themselves if they need to in
order to save their lives.
safe in the event that there is a mass shooting on our campus. Then, we have
a drill to practice what to do if that were to ever happen. Students create
barricades in front of doors. They practice making barricades inside classrooms
to hide behind. We talk to them about defending themselves if they need to in
order to save their lives.
Really!?! I mean, is this really what we’ve been reduced to? The ONLY way
we can protect our CHILDREN is by training them in how to react if someone
were to come onto campus with a gun!?!
we can protect our CHILDREN is by training them in how to react if someone
were to come onto campus with a gun!?!
We’ve been doing this for years now, ever since Columbine. But the thing is, the
shootings are only increasing. The likelihood that my current students and my
own children will be present for an on-campus shooting is only increasing.
shootings are only increasing. The likelihood that my current students and my
own children will be present for an on-campus shooting is only increasing.
And it doesn’t stop there. YOU are in danger too! Your workplace could be the
site of a mass shooting. The grocery store. The movie theater. A peaceful protest.
Just walking down the street.
site of a mass shooting. The grocery store. The movie theater. A peaceful protest.
Just walking down the street.
Mass shootings in our country are becoming normalized. We practice for them
instead of preventing them.
instead of preventing them.
I chose to be a teacher because I had hope for using literacy to make a difference
in a child’s life. I never expected that the difference I would make would be helping
them survive being shot at with a gun or training them in what to do if someone
opens fire on the cafeteria.
in a child’s life. I never expected that the difference I would make would be helping
them survive being shot at with a gun or training them in what to do if someone
opens fire on the cafeteria.
If you have a school-aged child, they are participating in these drills too. I had to
talk to my own daughter to make sure she knew what to do if something “bad”
were to happen on campus - just to check for her own first-grade understanding
of what to do. This is ridiculous.
talk to my own daughter to make sure she knew what to do if something “bad”
were to happen on campus - just to check for her own first-grade understanding
of what to do. This is ridiculous.
Parents: your children’s lives are in the hands of the teachers and adults on their
campus because we are unwilling to do ANYTHING to prevent these things from
happening.
campus because we are unwilling to do ANYTHING to prevent these things from
happening.
Obviously, these situations arise from complicated factors: access to guns,
access to health care and mental health care, inability to communicate and or
cope with one’s feelings, home lives, etc.
access to health care and mental health care, inability to communicate and or
cope with one’s feelings, home lives, etc.
BUT I DON’T ACTUALLY CARE.
What I care about is the fact that little, tiny kindergartners have to practice
leaving their classrooms through windows and hiding in cupboards; that big,
giant teenagers have to wrestle with the thoughts of what they would do if they
can’t get to their friends or save them in the event of a shooting; and that I have
the nagging worry constantly in the back of my mind that every human being in
my care could possibly be gunned down while trying to get an education.
leaving their classrooms through windows and hiding in cupboards; that big,
giant teenagers have to wrestle with the thoughts of what they would do if they
can’t get to their friends or save them in the event of a shooting; and that I have
the nagging worry constantly in the back of my mind that every human being in
my care could possibly be gunned down while trying to get an education.
America: WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE WE DOING!?!
Are you concerned? Not sure what to do? Here are some SUPER basic suggestions:
- If you have guns, keep them secure. Lock them up and lock up your ammunition separately.
- Call or write to your Congress
- Call or write to your Senator
- Join an organization that works to protect our children. Consider everytown.org,
or momsdemandaction.org
