I got a text from my wife: Her school was in lockdown, and she was hiding under her desk in her classroom. I asked if she had heard gunshots, and she said no. I was afraid for her, and it was that fear that made me understand why families of these shooting victims can have this visceral reaction to demand gun bans. It is an emotional response that is born from the fear for a loved one's safety and the instinct that demands you do something. You feel powerless. With that being said, the rational brain says that banning guns will not work.
In my wife's case, it turned out that someone had called 911 because they thought they saw someone entering campus with a gun, but the person was found and had no weapons on him. In other words, part of the hysteria that surrounds the recent shooting in South Florida.
As a teacher who has been a victim of student violence, I can tell you that there are a few things that need to be done:
1 Currently, when a student attacks someone, the incident is swept under the rug. If it is a teacher who was attacked, the teacher is blamed. I have seen this happened to at least 4 different teachers. The violent student gets a pass, and the problems escalate, sometimes ending in someone being seriously hurt or killed. The worst that is done is that the student is assigned to an "at risk" high school for the rest of the school year, then returns the following fall. I have students in my class who have been caught dealing drugs (more than once), carrying weapons on campus, rape, armed robbery, and other serious crimes. How about we do something about that?
2 How about putting a fence around campus and controlling access? Our school board already shot that one down as being too expensive.
3 Allowing teachers to carry weapons isn't going to happen in Florida. See #1- if a teacher is involved in a violent incident with a student, the teacher is blamed.
This is all part of a big push for gun control, not real solutions. I just hope the clock runs on the proposed bills in Florida. The Legislature is in session for only three more days.
I'm glad she's ok. The thought of being powerless in a situation like that is one of my nightmares. My kids' school has been on lockdown twice in the past year because of district wide threats.
ReplyDeleteSince we KNOW that lockdown just provides more targets, I'm especially angered when they do it.
Will they acknowledge the threat and take ANY steps to mitigate it? No. Why don't we have a bleeding control kit in every fire extinguisher cabinet? Why don't we have a mass casualty pack next to every AED? Why don't we have at least a 2 pound can of bear spray in a cabinet in every classroom next to the fire extinguisher? FFS, the first two would save lives and the third could potentially stop an attacker in his tracks. Our district will spend $900 on each AED to save ADULT lives and not one dollar on lifesaving for kids.
Anyway, I'd bet your wife would get in trouble for even having pepper spray in her bag, yet they expect her to put herself between a bullet and someone's crack baby....
madness.
nick
The reason we have these problems in America today is because people with your high skillset and worldly background are still propping up government disasters like public school. Government is a religion, and you believe in it. I bet the law-abiding conservatives onboard the boxcars were still telling each other civilization can be saved by working within the system.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the next outrage they will impose on your wife? Carry RFID badges and track teacher movement past every doorway, for "safety", to require an inhumane work schedule? Your wife has a potty break scheduled for 10:05am to 10:12, I don't see how she could complain.
I spent my day reading a paper where my students claimed that disarming the public is a bad idea, and arming teachers a good idea. I don't know about other teachers' students, but mine are going to graduate with a freedom mindset.
ReplyDeleteWhat are you doing? Sitting in your mom's basement and counting your canned goods?