“If a person comes into your classroom, turn your body so your side is facing the front of their body. This way, if they shoot you, they are less likely to hit any vital organs.”
“Get into a corner of the room not visible by the window in the door. Someone will check the door is locked. Close the blinds on the windows. Be quiet. If you’re in the hall when the announcement is made, run and/or hide. If you can’t hide or they’re in the classroom, fight.”
The suggestions flooding social media following a school shooting in which 19 children and two teachers were killed, is to train teachers or to arm more people in the school’s proximity.
The first quote is one I heard my first semester as an undergraduate education major. We were asked to volunteer to come to the front of the room to show the class how to stand and the teacher would pretend to be the intruder. The second quote is from my experience as a high school student. This is what we were told to do if we receive a warning or hear gun shots. Teachers are being trained. Students are being taught. The teachers and students know what to do during an active shooter situation. I graduated high school 12 years ago. This is information that has been in the schools for years.
In my College Algebra class, I sat in a row of five directly aligned with the window in the door. The peer in the front of the row was responsible for shutting the door. Each row had a specific job during the active shooter drills. Administrative staff would come by and shake the doors aggressively, look in to see if they could see any of us, and give us tips on how to improve for the next drill.
We were reprimanded for using any other door but the front door to enter or exit the school during the school day. We were told if we opened other doors, we could disengage the locks and possibly leave the door vulnerable for intruders. My peers goofed off during the drills, ignorant to the reality of the need for them. The Columbine high school shooting was the go-to reminder of what might happen to any of us on any day. We were encouraged to report any of our peers for suspicious behaviors.
To act as if teachers aren’t actively aware of the possibility of a school shooting is ignorant. They know. They’ve known. They do not need anymore training. They should not have to bear the burden of carrying a gun to potentially shoot one of the children that has sat in their classroom. They should not have to worry about a gun while they educate our most vulnerable. Having more and more security on the campus advertises to children that they are not safe in a place they should be. It seems impossible to have enough security to stand by each classroom in case a situation initiates inside the classroom instead of in the halls or outside of the school. A handful of security guards cannot be everywhere at once.
I am almost 30 years old. I grew up learning where to hide and how to fight if we couldn’t hide. The Columbine school shooting happened in 1999. It’s likely safe to assume that children and teachers at least since 1999 have learned the same information I did. If a shooter enters a school campus, they know where to go, they know where you’re suggested to hide, they know that you’re told to fight and likely have limited materials to do so. They know you’re vulnerable.
That’s why they are there.
Shooters go to places where people are vulnerable. They go where they know they can likely do the most damage. They go to where they know they will likely accomplish much of their goal before anyone is able to stop them.
Once this argument is gone through, people will add mental health as what needs to be addressed. Mental health is used as something to say when you’re trying to find something to blame other than the real problem. The person was mentally unstable. They’re an outlier. This won’t happen again.
But it does. It happens over and over and over and over and over and over again. Did that feel like too much? It will never be too much to continually point out that nothing is being done to address this problem.
I’m happy to talk about mental health for a second, though. Mental health absolutely needs to be addressed. Let me break it down for you.
- When a child is born, their parent should have guaranteed access to all items necessary for their child’s survival. Access to formula, a crib, a car seat, and any other item a parent may need.
- The child’s parent needs access to childcare that is free or affordable in the context of all their other financial responsibilities.
- Parents need to have parental leave available to use at their discretion. This should not be taken from their sick leave or annual leave.
- Parents need to have access to free mental health services to address this major change in their life if needed.
- Parents need to have access to affordable housing and jobs that pay at a comparable rate to the cost of living in the area in which they live.
- Parents need to have access to free continuing education to consider options for being in a situation to improve their income earning potential.
- Parents and the child need to have access to free mental health services at any time during their lives.
- Bullying in schools needs to be addressed immediately.
- Trans individuals need access to gender affirming care.
- Parents need the right to choose abortion.
- Racism needs to be eliminated.
- Microaggressions need to be called out and stopped.
- Systemic problems need to be corrected.
Mental health is not something that is fixed by one visit to a therapist’s office to complain about your mother, like presented in the entertainment industry. There are numerous factors that contribute to a person struggling with their mental health. There are numerous factors that contribute to a person getting to the point of pointing a gun at innocent humans and ending their lives.
The main factor is the access to guns.
I grew up around guns. There was a gun on a shelf in my grandfather’s shower. There were multiple guns we would have to move around to find anything in my grandfather’s closet. My mom hid one under our couch which we didn’t know about until we were messing around one day. This one was in a locked box.
We shot at random targets in random backyards. Family members hunted animals. We were taught general gun safety. Most of my family held guns in the military. Guns were a present and common factor in my childhood.
You can absolutely find examples of a person who was around guns who did not use them to harm another human. However, the more access to guns, the more likely someone is to use them.
People will say that guns are not the problem, that people sinning and not having a relationship with God is the problem. Are you willing to sit around and wait for all humans on Earth to develop a relationship with God instead of addressing the problem? I’m not.
Praying is comforting. Praying is likely necessary for some. However, this is not the case for all. Praying only does so much. Absolutely pray if this is your choice. But then team with those in your community to put actions into place to keep people safe.
We need gun laws that keep unnecessary guns out of the hands of any random citizen. There is no reason that background checks should be a problem. There is no reason that a raised age limit to access guns shouldn’t be in place outside of the context of military service. Classes should be required to teach those who want to buy a gun how to use them safely. There is no reason that it should not be noted how many guns you own and what they are.
If you care more about a collection of useless materials in the façade of “I may need them to protect myself from the government,” you likely need to seek mental health support. I don’t say this in a condescending way, but the reality is, humans are much more important than a gun.
The political party I see pushing gun control the most appears to be doing the most to support mental health, they are advocating for equitable treatment and justice for those not receiving it. They are fighting to keep humans healthy, physically and mentally. I cannot see a future in which these individuals take your guns, and then somehow threaten your existence.
I do not have all the answers, I likely don’t even have 1% of the answers. However, I know sitting by and sending thoughts and prayers on social media to move on a second later, is not helping. I refuse to sit by and allow these shootings to continue until my son is the one who is taken from this world, triggering a more intense reason to care.
Every human is an important person to someone. This can’t continue.
I know many of us are doing the best we can. We are struggling with so much every day. I am here to be an advocate for mental health and helping others. If you’re struggling with an internal battle, just know, I am here with you! My website/blog and social media page are safe places! Share your dreams and your struggles. Life isn’t easy but you’re doing great!
Ariel Pierce 