School Shootings, and Other Surrealism

Once again, today, two kids were gunned down at their high school. 

Let me break this down for everyone in one thought:  a student walked into a school with a Glock and started firing.  He’s dead.  Two students were shot.  The resource officer was on top of it.  (Thank you, Blaine Gaskill, for facing your own mortality to save the lives of others.)

That Maryland high school had a lock down drill the other day.  My school had a lock down drill today.  Here’s what doesn’t stop school shootings:  lock down drills.  YES, lives are saved by having a plan in place to protect students.  NO, there is not a way for schools to stop active shooters.  They can come in through the front door of their school with a gun in their pocket, their backpack, or their sleeve.  No amount of metal detectors will stop shooters from coming in.  Locking the doors helps, but the doors are often unlocked.  The doors are ALWAYS unlocked at the beginning of the day (obviously) because students need to gain entrance to their schools.

Guns don’t kill people, right NRA? 

This is blatant fucking nonsense. 

The school system needs to be fundamentally changed.  If I have to champion this cause (at the risk of losing my job in the process), I will.  I just honestly can’t believe that THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT is so useless in protecting its citizens.  I totally, genuinely, understand the usefulness of the Second Amendment, and I don’t think it should go away completely, BUT … the Second Amendment is the only one of the Bill of Rights which hasn’t been properly challenged through the Supreme Court.  Please get it done, government officials.  I’m not a lawyer or a senator or a representative, but I am a teacher of human beings, and I would prefer that they not get gunned down while trying to get an education simply because a minority of gun enthusiasts are manipulating U.S. laws with lobbying money funneled through the NRA.

As of this moment, 3,060 people have been killed by guns in America since January 1^st.  30 human beings TODAY.  (so far …)  As a citizen of this “greatest country on earth”, I am appalled by our lack of humanity.  So many of these murderers simply kill themselves before law enforcement even shows up on the scene.  Even in my hyper-vigilant suburban area, it would take about five minutes for law enforcement to arrive at the school.  How many people can be killed in five minutes with an automatic gun??  The answer is a lot.  And “a lot” is a fucking terrible quantitative value in reference to human beings, especially children. 

Can we just be better?  Can we stop this antiquated ideology of “America”?

When my students and I had to navigate a “lock-down-turn-off” situation at school today, they turned into a militia.  They didn’t want to die, even in a drill.  They threw tables up against the window and the door and hid like someone was actually shooting.  They moved around to different positions to see where they were most safe.  They kept talking about the logistics of different scenarios.  They were preemptive striking against an enemy, AND THEY WERE JUST TRYING TO GO TO ENGLISH CLASS. 

Fucking stupid.  We all (including the students) need hazard pay.