I hate that this is a real thing I have to worry about (and of course, kids in school need to worry about) in the line of work I'm going into. Hell, within a couple semesters of a few times a week...
I hate that this is a real thing I have to worry about (and of course, kids in school need to worry about) in the line of work I'm going into. Hell, within a couple semesters of a few times a week in-classroom training, there was a semi-serious bomb threat and a completely serious planned shooting with guns and details ready. I guess this is just normal now.
Anyway, this was difficult to read as all these stories are for me. Outside of the horror in this situation, of particular interest was this bit:
One of the things that I think we didn’t do a great job of as a school community was take care of the adults in the school. The focus was on getting the kids back into a normal routine, and that was so important that it was done at the expense of the adults in the classroom, and in the building, who were basically told, “If you can’t keep it together, we’ll get somebody else to come in.” And it was a year before there was help in the building for the adults.
Fucking infuriating. Can't even get support for staff that just survived a fucking terrorist attack.
To be honest, one of the saddest things about the profession is that my students are now too young to realize that school shootings shouldn't be a thing. It used to be that they were extreme...
To be honest, one of the saddest things about the profession is that my students are now too young to realize that school shootings shouldn't be a thing. It used to be that they were extreme outliers. Freak accidents of a sort. But they have now happened enough that they are normalized, and my students have never known a time before that. School shootings are now a distant, abstract, but nevertheless everyday threat that they grow up with. One more rule in the back of their mind designed to keep them safe but also passively reminding them of danger: Look both ways before crossing the street. Wear a helmet while riding your bike. Run/fight/hide if there's a gunman in your school.
We now do active shooter drills like we do fire drills. Nothing makes me feel like I'm living in some dystopian alternate reality more than reminding my kids to hold their hands above their heads as we run out of the building together. That's a lesson I never expected to have to teach, and I hope like hell it's one we'll never have to apply.
I hate that this is a real thing I have to worry about (and of course, kids in school need to worry about) in the line of work I'm going into. Hell, within a couple semesters of a few times a week in-classroom training, there was a semi-serious bomb threat and a completely serious planned shooting with guns and details ready. I guess this is just normal now.
Anyway, this was difficult to read as all these stories are for me. Outside of the horror in this situation, of particular interest was this bit:
Fucking infuriating. Can't even get support for staff that just survived a fucking terrorist attack.
To be honest, one of the saddest things about the profession is that my students are now too young to realize that school shootings shouldn't be a thing. It used to be that they were extreme outliers. Freak accidents of a sort. But they have now happened enough that they are normalized, and my students have never known a time before that. School shootings are now a distant, abstract, but nevertheless everyday threat that they grow up with. One more rule in the back of their mind designed to keep them safe but also passively reminding them of danger: Look both ways before crossing the street. Wear a helmet while riding your bike. Run/fight/hide if there's a gunman in your school.
We now do active shooter drills like we do fire drills. Nothing makes me feel like I'm living in some dystopian alternate reality more than reminding my kids to hold their hands above their heads as we run out of the building together. That's a lesson I never expected to have to teach, and I hope like hell it's one we'll never have to apply.