How is it that I am back here after only 2 weeks to write about another massacre? Oh, that’s right…I live in America.
Whenever I go to the grocery store now, and probably for the rest of my life, I will think of the ten people who lost their lives on Jefferson Ave. I know many of my fellow Buffalonians can echo that sentiment. And now, whenever I go to work, I will think of the dozens dead or injured in Uvalde. And I know my fellow educators feel the same way.
Listen…no teacher is out there receiving combat pay, so stop acting like they are the first line of defense. I saw a meme yesterday that said not to even suggest arming teachers, because apparently y’all can’t even trust them to choose books.
When I graduated high school, I was told there would be a teaching shortage right about now, and there is. There were many incentives in place at the time for those who wanted to pursue education, such as reduced tuitions and 5-year Master’s programs. Naturally, I jumped at this, as I had wanted to work with children and teaching seemed to be the obvious answer.
Ooooh boy am I glad I dropped out of college now!
As if teaching through a pandemic wouldn’t have been hard enough, you finally get back into the school setting and now you have to worry about “active shooters.” No, thank you. Yet…I look at these kids I teach and the crazy thing about it is that they know what to do in the event of a gunman, better than I do. I’ve had no training; they’ve been doing it since pre-k. So while I am the one expected to lay my life on the line for a child, they are the ones more likely to save me. I have a better chance following a third-grader’s directions than they would have following mine and ouch…I think I just found a blind spot in our program.
Last Saturday, I took a CPR and First Aid course. It’s required for work, but it’s also something I like to have. It’s a skill I have thankfully never had to use, but I am prepared in case it happens, and I guess that’s how we are spinning shooter drills to the kids. Except it seems more and more of them assume they are preparing for “when” it happens, not “if.”
Listen, I hate guns, and if you’ve read a lot of my stuff, you probably already know that. However, I am pro-choice on pretty much all topics…so if you like guns or own one, whatever…that’s your right. HOWEVER, I do think we should have common sense gun laws. I mean, why do you need a AR15? Explain it to me like I’m a child, and don’t use the words “target practice.” Oh, and as soon as you mention killing humans, even if in defense, you are proving my point. I don’t care about your shotgun, your handgun, your hunting rifle; I care about your semi-automatic assault rifle. ASSAULT is right there in the name!
Anyway…I wrote a poem, video below, about the events in Uvalde. Too much to process, and far too soon.
Ham 'N Eggs 