This used to be a euphamism…. Meaning something that should never happen. But for public school educators it is not.
Waking up to the news this morning that 19 students and 2 teachers in Texas were dead at the hands of an 18 year old gunman, after 10 people were killed by an 18 year old gunman in New York, and after the news of 26 other school shootings in the last school year brought me to tears. When is enough going to be enough?
We were shocked and saddened, sending thoughts and prayers after Columbine….and every year it is another school in another state, and now we are at an average of two school shootings a month. The only significant change as a response to the increase in gun related violence on school campuses is our planning and preparedness for just such a tragedy. I have a four inch binder with detailed instructions on what to do during an active shooter situation. But guess what….so did Robb Elementary School, and it didn’t save those children or teachers.
I was asked the tough question after a lock down situation as a fourth grade teacher shortly after Columbine. I was a brand new teacher, and my student asked me, ‘Would you take a bullet for us?’ I am a wife, I am a mom, and if I am the only thing standing between life and death for my students, yes. I have lived a good full life and these babies deserve the opportunity to do the same. Just as those babies that Irma Garcia and Eva Mireles were trying to protect.
During the 1998-99 school year there were 5 school related acts of gun violence, resulting in 19 deaths and 34 injuries based on a quick google search. Data here. This number has increased in the last two decades, see the data here.
I have to believe we can do better by our children. I can’t imagine that with all of the educators who are registered to vote that this is where we are at! But here we are.
When I look around at my staff, I know 100% that they would all lay down their lives to protect their children, but they shouldn’t have to.
It should be over my dead body that these elected officials who are in the pocket of the NRA are re- elected. It should be over my dead body that our elected lawmakers refuse to pass laws to protect innocent people from needless gun violence. It should be over my dead body that parents should have to worry when they send their children through the school house doors that they may never tuck them in again. It should be over my dead body that we have to practice drills on how to escape an active shooter situation.
It should be over my dead body that any 18 year old can go out and buy a gun days after their 18th birthday, with a brain that isn’t fully developed. The car insurance companies got it right with the increased rates for insurance for those under the age of 25. They are at higher risk because of inexperience and lack of judgement. The 20 year old brain that is still developing and maturing is quicker to judge, less likely to reflect in the moment, and tends to seek instant gratification.
My Facebook feed is flooded with people sharing their shock, sadness, anger and disbelief at the violent events including school shootings and other acts of domestic terrorism. Now is the time to research candidates that are supported by the NRA and take the grief and outrage to the polls. We need to send the message with our votes that our children and educators deserve to be safe and protected, that our families deserve peace of mind, and our communities will not tolerate children and minorities being targeted by acts of violence.
The fact is it should be over our elected representatives’ dead bodies that our schools are unsafe.
