Content warning: This article addresses school shootings and gun violence.
Last night I had a dream that I was in a school shooting, running away for safety, screaming and crying as bullets were fired at me and kids were falling to their death next to me. When it was over and I was finally safe, I immediately opened up my computer and wrote an article about it.
Naturally, waking up from this dream, I knew that I had to write about the epidemic of school shootings and my fears as a future teacher.
Being an elementary education major, we’ve talked about school shootings in all of my classes. In one of my classes, we had to come up with research questions regarding elementary education and classrooms, and were then prompted to say our questions aloud. My question was, “How can we go upon reducing school shootings without implementing gun restrictions?”. We proceeded to have a discussion about this for roughly 45 minutes in a desperate attempt to find ways to reduce the frequency of school shootings knowing that, in America, it’s practically impossible for stricter gun laws to be passed.
Our collaborations include expanded mental health services (but will this really prevent someone from shooting up a school? Research says no), clear backpacks (talk about a lack of privacy!), or metal detectors (but can you imagine how long this would take with everyone coming to school in the morning at the same time?).
In my classes, I should be learning how to teach children, not being taught ways to protect them from getting shot. It’s terrifying that this is the reality of living in America, the country known for having the highest number of mass shootings per year.
In 2023, there were 349 shootings in K-12 schools; this is almost one shooting each day in 2023.
A nine-year-old should be worried about having monsters under their bed or losing their favorite toy or a watermelon growing in their stomach if they accidentally swallow a watermelon seed. A nine-year-old should not be worried that they might be adding fractions when someone walks into their classroom with a gun and shoots them to death.
As a future teacher, I’ve been forced to think about the possibility of dying in my classroom. It’s terrifying honestly, knowing that each day I go to class, it could be my last, whether I’m thinking about my future as a teacher or my present as a college student.
Something we’ve also discussed in my classes is how to deal with our students experiencing a fear of school shootings. When my stepsister was in elementary school, she would watch lockdown drills several times a week just to prepare herself in case a shooter entered the building. She knew that her school being shot up was a potential threat, but hadn’t done lockdown drills yet, as this is something that typically begins in middle school. This is not something a nine-year-old should be worried about.
A nine-year-old should be worried about having monsters under their bed or losing their favorite toy or a watermelon growing in their stomach if they accidentally swallow a watermelon seed. A nine-year-old should not be worried that they might be adding fractions when someone walks into their classroom with a gun and shoots them to death. Students should not be forced to live in fear that they might die in the place they’re supposed to learn, grow, and thrive in.
Did you know that I’ve had to research where I want to live after graduation based on which states have the lowest school shooting rates?
I’ve had to role-play scenarios in my head about what I would say if a student came up to me, worried about school shootings. My immediate response would be to say “That will never happen,” but that’s a lie, isn’t it? We can’t promise our students that they won’t get shot walking into the classroom because it’s a real possibility, with our most recent school shooting being in September.
Did you know that I’ve had to research where I want to live after graduation based on which states have the lowest school shooting rates?
My biggest concern as a teacher should be if my students are learning, not if an intruder is going to shoot up my school. It is so disheartening seeing politicians support looser gun laws, as if we didn’t witness a Presidential candidate get shot in a failed assassination attempt just a few months ago.
Following a school shooting in Perry, Iowa, former President Donald Trump said “It’s just horrible, so surprising to see it here, but we have to get over it, we have to move forward.” Is it surprising to see it here? Really? After the Georgia shooting, my friend texted me telling me about it, and I wasn’t even phased, knowing how often this happens. Trump’s “we have to get over it” is quite literally him saying that he doesn’t GAF.
You tell someone they “have to get over it” if they get into an argument with a friend or get rejected from a job. You don’t tell someone they “have to get over it” if kids are getting shot to death in their classroom.
Facts of life are that you can’t sneeze with your eyes closed, bags of chips are always going to be mostly air, and rush-hour traffic is practically inevitable. The sound of gunfire shattering your eardrums, the chaos erupting in a classroom meant for growth and discovery, seeing a student get shot and bleed to death five feet away from you is not a “fact of life”.
After the Georgia shooting, J.D. Vance declared school shootings as a “fact of life”, rejecting any efforts to pass stricter gun laws, even denying the idea that expanded background checks could help.
Facts of life are that you can’t sneeze with your eyes closed, bags of chips are always going to be mostly air, and rush-hour traffic is practically inevitable. The sound of gunfire shattering your eardrums, the chaos erupting in a classroom meant for growth and discovery, seeing a student get shot and bleed to death five feet away from you is not a “fact of life”.
Vance’s message was clear: Gun violence is an unfortunate but unavoidable cost of living in a nation that prioritizes gun access over safety. To my shock, he even said that gun violence is a “fake problem”. I was so shocked reading this that I genuinely thought this quote was a lie, and did further research, only for this to be a true statement that a man running to be Vice President of the United States actually said.
J.D. Vance seems to think that if we fix door locks and increase the amount of SRO’s (school resource officer) in schools, then our school shooting issue will magically disappear. Maybe a shooter will walk into a school, jiggle the doorknob and see that it’s locked, then walk away! Maybe SRO’s will get shot rather than students!
It’s terrifying knowing that this is the reality of living in America, the country known for its freedom! So much freedom that you can buy a gun at 18, but you can’t drink alcohol until you’re 21.
Why do we have such a priority of protecting guns rather than protecting children? President Trump has stated that there are abortions happening after birth, and I don’t know who’s gonna tell him that abortion after birth is called a school shooting.
Being a future teacher, I constantly think about what would happen if I heard gunshots in my school. I don’t even think I’d be surprised, it’s something I subtly expect everyday I walk on campus, and something I’m positive I’ll expect in my own classroom. Maybe in this country with our legislation, it is a fact of life to expect to be shot anytime you walk into a classroom.
There was one day that we had an emergency test siren go off on campus. Loud enough to hear from any point on campus, I was walking to the parking garage when I heard the siren go off. I didn’t realize that it was just a test, and all that went through my brain was, “Oh my god it’s finally happening.”
Maybe I’m scared of just being another ignored statistic, a name on a gravestone, a forgotten face in a news headline, but should I let this stop me from fulfilling my dreams as a teacher?
According to a Pew Research study, 7% of teachers said that they weren’t worried about school shootings at all. Seven percent. This means that to 93% of teachers, school shootings are a concern to them. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, but being shot in a classroom isn’t something we should be worried about as teachers.
The most important thing right now, is to let your voice be heard, and to ignore the meaningless “thoughts and prayers” from politicians, because they do absolutely f*cking nothing, but to advocate for political reform and a shift in policy.
As a future educator, I plan to do anything I can to prevent school shootings. This starts by having those uncomfortable conversations with friends and families. School shootings shouldn’t be political, because it’s quite literally a matter of life and death. The next step is to demand change, and most importantly, to vote for those who will make a difference.
The most important thing right now, is to let your voice be heard, and to ignore the meaningless “thoughts and prayers” from politicians, because they do absolutely f*cking nothing, but to advocate for political reform and a shift in policy.
If all else fails, I’m going to protect my students over myself. I’m going to ensure that there are designated hiding spots in my classroom in case of tragedy, and to be honest with my students if questions do arise.
An article by Her Campus writer Jordyn Stapleton addresses mass shootings being our “new normal”, and while I was going to add just one quote from the article, I couldn’t choose just one, so here are three excerpts from her incredibly powerful article to end off mine.
“I knew the drill when it came to mass shootings in the US: For a few days, there would be 24-hour news coverage and thousands of sympathetic tweets. Then there would be arguments between people who wanted gun control and people who didn’t. But after a week or so, everyone would just … move on.”
“How many people have to die before something changes? How many grief-stricken families have to be ripped apart by senseless violence? How many people will have to live in fear of losing the people they love in “safe” places? How many times will the country repeat this same, tired cycle without even attempting to do something differently?”
“For years, the U.S. has repeated a doomed cycle of experiencing tragedy, doing nothing, and moving on as if living with daily mass casualty events is normal. It’s not. And I am tired of people acting like it is.”
And finally, a quote from Charlotte Plotzke, survivor of the Michigan State University shooting and gun violence prevention activist with March For Our Lives.
“The grief and agony of watching yet another school shooting unfold is beyond words. It also leaves me wondering: How many more? How many more shootings, funerals, and vigils for victims who’ve yet to even graduate will there be until our lawmakers end the violence?”