Nearly a month ago the shootings in Parkland, FL happened. Two days after that a shooting took place very close to the school I work at, close enough to warrant a Lock Down. Since then, I’ve been feeling very anxious.
I didn’t get into teaching to get shot. I certainly didn’t get into it to see my students get shot by one of their own. But the weekend after the Parkland shooting, I was left thinking about what I would do if there were an active shooter on campus.
- Barricade the door with desks.
- Get the fire extinguisher, so we can shoot him in the face and bash him in the head with it. (I purposely used masculine pronouns.)
- Create a barricade with the rest of the desks.
- While we are waiting for the all-clear, distribute glassware and books to everyone to use as projectiles and shields in the case the shooter gets in the room
That week I had to tell students my plan 7 times for each period that I teach. The first time I had to go through the schpeal, I cried. It was an incredibly vulnerable moment for me to have to relay the responsibility I felt for keeping them safe.
Later that week we got to practice the plan in one of my classes. (Technically two, because someone called a lock-in situation a lock-down and I made my students lock-down.) So two out of seven of my classes got to actually practice the plan in my room…
During that week, I spoke to my students about the importance of contacting their legislators. I brought stamped postcards for them to send to their representatives of choice. I had to teach them how to address a postcard.
Since then I’ve been writing and e-mailing legislators. I’ve been asking my students about the March for Our Lives. One of my students is going to Washington for it. I hope others will go to the local march. I hope they will join the Parkland students in putting pressure on the legislation and not back down.
And while I’m nudging my students to take a stand, I’m taking a stand but also walking the walk too. I’ve been to almost every School Board meeting since October lending my support and voice to my union to get the district to close our contract. I got behind the podium and spoke at one of the School Board meetings this year, and am thinking of what to say at the next.
At last Tuesday’s School Board meeting, I was invited to a round-table on guns in schools, and I said yes to that invitation. I, along with 5 other teachers across the district, was interviewed by Channel 10 News Wednesday evening. I was so nervous to get in front of the media for this, but I’m glad I was brave and made my voice heard. Here’s the link:
I’ll be marching in the March for Our Lives on March 24; hopefully, surrounded the people who will take our country in a less hostile direction.
I’m single. I don’t have children, so maybe it’s easier for me. I know that people are pulled 1,000 different ways. But I also know that’s part of the strategy… Keep us all too busy to see the important stuff. Family, community, a living wage, healthcare, access to education, access to healthy food… Living a life worth living is important. And the work to keep this or get this back (if you had it in the first place) is rallies, phone calls, letters, interviews, voting.
In my readings and education regarding living daringly, I’ve learned that we must take care of ourselves before we can take care of others. But we don’t stand up for a healthy way of life. We let our employers work us to the bone, because we think there’s no alternative. We distract ourselves with purchases we don’t need to feel better for just a little while, while we squander our real commodity: time.
Once upon a time the nation as a whole could work 40 hours a week, make a decent wage, go to school without going into severe debt. Will we stand up and hold our politicians accountable for taking those things away from us over time, or withholding them from us like they do for too many?
If you are wanting someone else to fight for you, why won’t you fight for yourself? You deserve these things! As a human you deserve a life worth living, not just slaving away to fill someone’s pocket. Those at the front lines get tired of always fighting. We need our brothers and sisters to stand up with us, and not just from behind the scenes.
The students from Parkland are a huge inspiration. I don’t know why that particular shooting was the one to push us over a threshold. Surely Black Lives Matter has been consistently singing the same tune for a loooooooooong time. But this shooting was the one that broke the camel’s back.
I hope they keep pushing, and I will stand up and push with them. And let’s keep pushing. Not just for gun control. But for climate change policy. For a living wage. For healthcare for all. For accessible education for all. For housing solutions for all. For food for all. We could have these things with a budget that shifted just some of the money from death and destruction (i.e. the military) to things that feed and nourish our country instead.
But can we all stand up together and act to make this happen? My heart wants to say yes so badly…