We, as a nation, are still in mourning for the victims and their families in Newtown, Connecticut. While our hearts are broken, our minds are preoccupied with the safety of our children in the classroom. This conscious, frightening
mind-play stems from the very core of every parent, magnified by the heinous acts of a gun wielding madman who targeted the most vulnerable; the most innocent of us all.
As an educator, this tragic event sharpened my diligence to a fine point regarding safety in my own classroom. As a parent, my heart is irrevocably broken for the victims and their families. As a human being I am both shattered emotionally, and uplifted by the tremendous outpouring of love from multitudes all around the world. The big question everyone wants...needs...an answer too?
"How do we stop this from ever happening again?"
The question makes sense, doesn't it? For every problem their is a solution, right? In our classrooms we want well, thought-out questions from our kids. Our own questions to our kids are designed to elicit knowledge that would propagate higher order thinking. In a story, it opens on a problem, and ends with a solution. Math is built on this...problems and solutions. This question...the one centered above...is better answered in a seemingly closed environment like a classroom where solutions are more easily reached. However, on a national scale, a solution is rarely ever easily reached. I do not believe there will ever be an absolute, concrete...cut-and-dry solutiolon to this much asked question. This conclusion I have reached is not pessimistic in my point of view. The way I see it...it is realistic.
Cocaine is illegal, yet it can be found in the veins and up the noses of millions across the United States. Robbery, fraud, rape...all practiced every minute of everyday. Laws do well with those of us who have impulse control, or a code of ethics. For the rest, laws are simply challenges for the unethical to overcome! Jail time does nothing to deter any of the propagators of crime...prisons are prolific in all areas of it! So, realistically...can we EVER totally stop this kind of thing from happening again?
Dearest friends...I do not believe there is an answer to this specific question. I do not believe that we can ever absolutely stop this kind of thing from happening again. If there is some kind of an answer to this question, it won't happen quickly, or externally. Building fortresses around schools, or supplying teachers and administrators with guns (HOW STUPID IS THAT???) will not help. Modifying gun laws, no automatic weapons for civilians, more of a police presence in and around schools, more personnel or established personnel trained in effectively monitoring school buildings and grounds certainly couldn't hurt! The answer...a semblance of an answer anyway...must come internally.
I believe that we (Humans) are amazing when it comes to helping and supporting our fellow humans regarding any physical ailment, from cancer to the flu. There are commercials, billboards, magazine ads all calling us to arms to donate, and/or support (This is awesome...I wholeheartedly believe in and support all of it!). We are also amazing when it comes to our animals...we will send money to shelters, or we will adopt a Guinea pig in order to give it food and a good home. When is the last time you ever saw a commercial for the support of Schizophrenia? How about mood disorders, or social disorders?
There are more people in our own hometown who suffer emotionally, or mentally than suffer physically. A small percentage have gone after help...a larger percentage won't because they are afraid of the stigma attached, and are yet...undiagnosed. I believe that more education on mental health issues is needed for all of us. Cancer is tragic, and can take a life in the blink of an eye. Suicide can also take a life in the blink of an eye. AIDS or cancer never picked up a gun and killed children...a person with a mental or emotional disorder did. Our nation must start with its people if there is to be any kind of a solution. Not gun control or any of that ilk! (Automatic weapons have no business being in the hands of any civilian human being. Laws ending this are certainly needed, as well as better regulating who gets a gun permit!). More research, more education, more support for and towards the mental well-being of our people. This is a start.
In the "Old days" people who got cancer were shunned...exiled by friends and family. It was something only spoken about in whispers. AIDS was the same way...worse in many respects. Because of education to the masses through various media there is now overwhelming support, and research helping to end these diseases and this has quelled the fear (s) and removed the stigma (s) that was attached. It is time to move mental illness in the same direction.
The above is a long term plan, and only one of many ideas that will move us towards hopefully less atrocities in the future. So, what can be done now! How can we protect our students, and make them (And their parents) feel safe?
I believe that we are already doing everything that can be done. This latest tragedy happened because the gunman blew a whole with an automatic weapon through a window to gain access into a secured school. We have all read about so many schools...especially Sandy Hook Elementary...that take the protection of their students VERY seriously. Locked doors, intruder alert drills, fire drills, security cameras, etc. Lanza was mentally unstable 20 year old, and seemingly fell through the cracks as he progressed through adolescence. I am sure that many close to Lanza have speculated upon the notion that MORE should have done for this guy when he was younger and was ongoing. Had more been done, perhaps this horrible event would never have happened? Could be that there were things done to help Lanza early on, but the silent system, being what it is, simply was not enough! When the shooting first took place the word Asperger's was thrown out across the media. Hardly anything is known about Asperger's regarding the general public as a whole, and for this reason a stigma was attached...linking this mild form of Autism to the reason the shooting took place. So terrible for the millions who have Asperger's who are seen even more negatively now. Asperger's, or having Asperger's has nothing to do with killing people! I digress...Sandy Hook did everything possible to secure their kids. Had it been a school lacking in the security department...many more tragedies would have come about on that day.
Regarding my classroom...my school...Doors are always locked, any person entering the building must first come through the main office. Whenever a student leaves the classroom they do so with a buddy. Security cameras are in place, and students are escorted everywhere by their teacher. We have regular Fire, and Intruder Alert Drills. The same as Sandy Hook, and countless other schools across the nation. Just a note...none of this will prevent an automatic weapon carried by a mentally impaired individual from blowing a hole into our school. More research, more education, and more help for those who suffer any form of mental illness (From identification of the disease throughout life!) will help to prevent future tragedies.
Educators...the best, most sure-fire-way of keeping your kids safe inside your classroom starts from the first day of school. You must establish trust with your kids...YOU must gain a trustworthy rep! Your parents must also trust you (HINT: If your kids dig you, so will their parents. If the kids trust you, so will their parents). Be open, and be honest always. Show the kids...everyday...that you "Got their backs!" if they make a mistake, model to them how to fix it! Most kids LIE as their first reaction...let them see that telling you the truth is the ONLY ROAD IN TOWN, and that once they do tell the truth...they are still alive...their heart still beats, THEN congratulate them right before you hand down the consequence! Reward for honesty when it comes, while allowing the kid to pay the price for their mistake. When my kids make a mistake I am on them like flies on crap, but if they are honest...I will still respect them...they will remain trustworthy, while they serve recess standing against the wall. Tell your kids you love them, show them that you do! DO more than SAY! Remember everything from each kid...everything a kid says is important to him/her...it must be to you too! Have high expectations for your kids, and always live up to their expectations! Unless it is a breach in your school code of conduct (Fighting, a weapon, etc)...handle all situations inside your classroom. You and the kid, or you, the kid and the class. My kids know if there is a problem...we have a community meeting. No one points out the guilty...the guilty reveal themselves! We discuss...we fix, apologize, modify...whatever to remedy the situation. If it calls for a consequence...my kids can choose some of the time (Every situation is different...sometimes I choose)...missing recess, ISS, more homework, no Gym, etc.
If your kids trust YOU...they are already safer. If they respect YOU...they are already safer. If your kids listen to YOU...they are already safer. Keep them close. Keep them monitored. Allow them to be kids. Allow them to make mistakes...you can't become trustworthy until you screw-up and learn how to fix it! YOU establish an air of confidence...your emotions and thought streams are contagious. Your entire being is somewhat transferable. Allow your kids into your heart...you will never regret it! When they arrive in late August...it is all you! Classroom Management is all about YOU, and it remains so until June. When they leave on the last day of school, hope that each has acquired knowledge of something they never knew before. My fondest hope is that my kids will leave me a bit wiser, and more compassionate and aware of the world around them. Be ever diligent, and ever watchful.
One last note...I am for gun control, but not the elimination of guns. The use of common sense would help to change or modify gun law to a great extent. There are no AK47's plotting an assassination, or a hand gun filled with malice ready to pop a cap into the head of its owner! Remember Jim Jone's...the whacked-out cult leader? He made big batches of Kool-aide laced with cyanide and convinced whole families to drink it. Men, woman and children...dead! No outrage at Kool-aide...just at the whack-job who brought the punch bowl!
