Normally I shoot to be more polished and amusing but I’m
not amused in light of the recent school shootings. As a teacher, I have thoughts
and decided to actually try to share them rather than go to Facebook and post a
bunch of memes., Though in fairness, I have might have posted a few. These are
clearly my opinion and mine alone.
Hire
some Vets to be armed guards
Please do not hire anyone to sit in my school with
a weapon unless they are a real police officer. It’s a lovely idea in the sense
that I am sure there are many vets who’d be more than qualified and happy to so
such a service. Yet in what capacity would they serve? If there was an active
shooter, wouldn’t they have to stand own anyway? To me it seems to make more sense to have actual
law enforcement on hand who can coordinate better with authorities. Nope.
Arm
the Teachers
Have you met most teachers? The way society has
singled us out over the years, we are on a disgruntled level that makes post
office employees be great Hallmark store greeters. Sorry, but in all seriousness,
I do not want this responsibility placed on me and I am guessing many teachers would
agree. I have parents trying to get me in trouble with administrators because I
won’t take late work from a kid who refused to do it when it was assigned in class.
I cannot foresee carrying a weapon would come with any less difficulties. In addition
to lesson plans, data review meetings, professional trainings, oh, and actually
teaching in class to ensure we have a good graduation rate, now I have to be
Dirty Harry? The responsibilities are dense already. I do not feel comfortable
with conceal and carry added to that mound. Nope.
I have little faith in any school system to even come
up with a way to manage and finance this plan. It took me three years of begging to get a
printer for my classroom that I didn’t have to pay for. I teach Special Ed and
have to continuously write IEPS and other forms of governmental paperwork not including
all the stuff I have to print out for my class and students. How would money be
allocated and where would it come from? Where would this money be allocated from
and what already underfunded programs would lose out? Arts in School? Hiring
more teachers? Retirement? Nope.
Speaking of which, let’s be frank. I don’t get paid
much and that’s fine. I am not here for a paycheck yet we don’t get raises or
even a realistic cost of living bump anymore. If I see a bump in my paycheck it’s
because I know my healthcare costs are going up. That’s not political it’s just what
we teachers are dealing with: conservative and liberals. So now in addition to everything
I else I do, I could potentially be trained to carry? Once again, where is this
money coming from? And do you really want to arm folks already frustrated and
underpaid? I am not trying to be funny
here. Teachers deal with high levels of depression and anxiety already. Nope.
I’m going to be
as honest and I can right here and I am not trying to be dramatic. Every
morning right before class, I make sure to lock my classroom door. Some
mornings, I just am feeling lazy or enjoying talking to a student and I don’t
feel like it but then the reality hits me,” What if this was the day we have an
active shooter?” I get off my ass and get that door locked ASAP.
It’s a pretty sobering thought to have but I’ve had it
for several years now. I lost a friend and fellow teacher back in 2007 at
Virginia Tech. Jamie Bishop and I worked together for a few years at a summer camp
and became good friends. He was mowed down by the shooter protecting his students.
I know Jamie and his excellent good nature. I have no doubts he did everything
he could to disarm the situation but was shot anyway. I ask myself every time,
will I be able to be brave like that if I have to square off with an active
shooter? It terrifies me because I want to protect my class but I also do not
want to be a soundbite like my friend has become when another shooting happens.
I have this thought EVERY SINGLE DAY. Nope.
What
do we do?
OK, nothing new here but this what I have from the perspective
of a teacher with his own kids in High School
I had a nice bit written about removing assault
weapons but let’s face it, you’ve already heard it so let’s focus on what you
can do directly at home:
Listen
to your kids. When I say this I don’t mean to spend 30
mins hearing about what latest YouTube star just ate a Tide pod. I mean listen
to what they like, what they do, how they spend their time. If you can’t name
one of their friends, START PAYING MORE ATTENTION.
Make
sure your kids are aware of their surroundings. They are actually in
the schools. If someone is saying violent stuff, mention it to a teacher or a counselor
and you, as the parent, follow up (with email to create paper trail) . Keep it within reason what is reported
because remember teens do weird stuff but if your kid is talking about a student
proudly proclaiming he is a sociopath or likes to hurt small animals, might be
the time to say something. Better to be safe than sorry, it quite literally my
mantra at school now. It’s much easier to apologize to a student and their parents
rather than have to live with the guilt of knowing I could stop something
horrible.
Tell
them you love them and yes, this is not normal.
I don’t get any
of this nor do I understand any of it and why nothing is being done. About that I am very upfront with my kids. It’s
not right. It’s a school not Beirut. My wife is great at getting our kids to
open up and share their fears. From this we have usually a pretty good
discussion about all this.
It’s not an easy problem to solve with no easy
solutions. The worst is that so much of this is dependent on factors out of our
reach. Be loud. Make your voice heard. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and
most all, vote out these a-holes getting gun lobby money from office.
