Hearts are breaking for the many victims and their families & friends of school shootings that seem to occur more and more in recent years.  There were 18 school shootings in just 2018 alone and the most recent shooting was in a High School in Parkland, Florida killing 17 people. This is not only alarming, but extremely frightening for teachers and students that go to school every day. I remember Sandy Hook shooting like it was yesterday. Being an elementary teachers myself, this hit home a bit harder since it was a shooting in an elementary school killing 26 people on December 14, 2012. I couldn’t even begin to make sense or process the day’s events, never mind understanding what thoughts, feelings and questions my second grade students had. We spent a lot of class time talking about our feelings and I answered some questions that came up  since my students were highly anxious, fearful and couldn’t understand the extent of such a horrific act. They kept asking the same question we all had, “But why, why would someone do that?” And it occurred to me that the hardest thing for children, as well as adults, to understand was mental illness.

There are many debates about whether school shootings are more about gun laws or mental health issues. Perhaps it’s a combination of both. It’s definitely a controversial topic which cannot go ignored. I believe that mental illness is a wide spread issue among many people of all ages, races, ethnicity, culture and backgrounds, trickling into our schools. People with mental health issues who misuse firearms is a growing concern. The scariest part about mental illness is that when it is overlooked for too long it’s extremely challenging to treat and it becomes dangerous. So what do we do about it? How do we STOP this? Something needs to change now.

Getting Real With School Safety 

The self reflective teacher in me raises some challenging questions. Are mental health issues addressed in schools as much as they need to be? Do students even know what mental health is? Are there even enough counselors in schools that can help students focus on and better their mental health? Does that even touch the surface to help the many students that come to school grieving, hungry, poor, sick, tired, neglected, abused and so many more things that are out of our control? Students bring to school the behaviors that stem from their lives. When we say it takes a village to raise a child, we mean that it takes a VILLAGE to raise and teach the whole child emotionally, socially and academically, of each and every child. No easy task for sure and it seems quite impossible, but what if we as a collective group did more to monitor the mental health of students each and every day?

Getting Real With Our Students

Building relationships is something I care deeply about. Getting to know your students is the first step to getting to know the whole child. Let them know that you care abut them and what’s going on in their life. Let them know that you will check in on them and will not ignore signs or clues. When there’s a suspicion or a lead, look further and then do something. Put on your detective hat to investigate. Look for some of these red flags.

• Physical- Dirty clothing or appearance, food insecurity, abuse, neglect, etc.?

• Social- What about their friendships? Does the child build relationships with others?  Are they often alone or introverted? Do they have difficulty making or keeping friendships?

• Emotional- How does the child problem solve? Do they react to situations logically or with emotions? Is there history of violence or negative behavior patterns?

• Academically- How are their grades? Is there a pattern of failing grades, lack of confidence, engagement or attendance?

Sometimes clues are obvious while other times we need to mine for them like gold.

Taking a Closer Look 

Sandy Hook Elementary shooter: 16 years old at the time of his parents’ divorce, was described early on by classmates as “fidgety” and “deeply troubled.” According to some of his friends and family members, he had also been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. (Biography.com) More disturbing information about this shooter here.

A toxic combination: Was this shooter grieving from his parents’ divorce? Was he struggling with mental health issues? Was it his access to guns and ammunition in his own home that made this shooting even more feasible?

And what do we know about the most recent Parkland shooter? He was described by former classmates as a “loner,” was an orphaned teenager whose adoptive mother died in November 2017, according to The Sun-Sentinel. The two boys, the shooter and his brother, had then moved in with a family friend but it was reported that he was unhappy, and asked a friend if he could move in with him, bringing along his legally owned gun.

A dangerous combination: A broken human being experiencing loss, grief, depression and unstable emotions with access to a gun.

Getting Real With Social Media

I’ve learned more about friends and family that I’d like to know from their social media profiles, from every picture, thought and emotion. Social media is flooded with extremely personal information. It was said on the news that the FBI ignored a tip they received about the Parkland shooter in January. The Parkland shooter’s social media profile showed disturbing images of gun and knives. His friends predicted that he was capable of such an act of violence. So why are we not acting when warned and why are we not taking a closer look at our students social media profiles which gives a very clear picture inside the minds and lives of these students? Perhaps we could use it as a tool to find some clues about our students beforehand. Disturbing images and words must never go ignored. We need to start teaching our students that if they see something, they need to take it seriously and say something. And better yet, how about going a step further and doing something. The attitude that this will “never happen here” is no longer a reality because it could very well happen anywhere. Ignoring tips puts the safety of our schools and public places in general at risk and people die. Being proactive saves lives.

Getting Real With Taking Action

Teachers all over the world continue to fight for school safety. Here’s some proactive ideas from @teachbetweenthelines on Instagram that encourages all of us to be the change that we need NOW.

1. Reach out to your local, state and federal government officials and legislators who hold the reigns of power.

2.  Follow and get involved in outreach campaigns to stop gun violence in our country (@EveryTown, @SandyHookPromise, @MomsDemandAction).

3. Text ACT to 644-33 or contact your local and state officials to demand #SCHOOLSAFETYNOW.

If you want to change something you could even go to change.org and start a petition.

Let’s Get Talking!

Guidance classes should be embedded into the school day daily. Other subject areas may need to share their instructional time in order teach students about mental health. We need to talk about real topics and concerns and hold kids accountable for their words and actions. We need to teach our students to speak up and speak out on topics of bullying and mental illness. Teach students how to cope with emotions. Help them to develop lifelong skills of problem solving, communicating, and social media norms- what’s okay to post, and what’s not. Grab my social media profile and post how to guide for students in creating appropriate social media profiles and posts here.

It’s time to take a stand for school safety. It’s time to take a stand for gun control. It’s time to take action and identify students that are clearly struggling with mental illness.  If the signs are there, look deeper. Tell someone, raise awareness, get involved and DO SOMETHING! It’s going to take ALL of us to making this change  and STOP these acts of violence in our schools. We can’t afford our schools, teachers and children to be at risk everyday. Teachers change lives but can save lives too. Let’s be the change! Please join us in supporting communities everywhere. We are stronger together.

Let’s talk about this and support each other in making change! Visit the Forum School Safety Now.