I need to talk for a minute. I keep curbing my words, because its tumbling around inside of me, and I want to be sure to make my point, but I have the pressing need of a Grade 4 boy to tell my story first :P Several years ago there was a shooting in the street outside of the entry to my childrens elementary school. It was after hours, and I was going to pick up one of my kids from a team practice. I *thought* I was witnessing a car accident, ran up to the car, and found the results of an attempted murder/suicide. I wont share what I saw, but in later days I was plagued with guilt for not staying with that poor woman because somehow she survived it. What I heard was Wheres the gun?!? and what I knew was those kids are going to be leaving the school with a gun in the area. I could hear the ambulance, so I bolted for the school, and eventually a lockdown was implemented (many thanks to the teacher who I know is in this group who was the person who forced the issue as our secretary was unusually...insensitive). Lots of stuff went down - a child from our school witnessed it, the police were needing to interview people and the road was closed - kids needed support and staff was ON it without a doubt. It took me until last year to really grasp that, with all the worries and concerns, and anger and PTSD crap, I had stayed attached to what I could have done differently and never actually got around to getting angry at that awful man for what he did to his ex, and his family. Fast forward to last year. Both my teens at a local secondary school when a bomb scare comes in. No one in the school knows what is ACTUALLY going on except that there are police everywhere, full Code Red, and every time those kids and staff hear a door or feet running down the hall, they are imagining the worst. One teacher went home, thought long and hard, and when she had that same group of kids back with her on Monday she explained to them that she had gotten a wake-up call and was submitting her retirement paperwork. I had a load of teens at my house that afternoon as they had no where to go, and I asked them to consider that their teachers had probably had some very profound moments of realizing that their lives *could* have been at risk and there may be some feelings more on the surface as a result. And then, we have today. Im working as a Casual in my district now. The school Im at today is one of 6 who were locked down due to a gunman in the area. The roads were closing as students were arriving, and some kids were approached by police on their way to school. Kids were anxious; some wanted to share scarier and scarier stories; some cried. Lots of parents phoned - and were told your children are safer here than driving around the area, were okay. So, obviously, for me personally it was a hard day - and who knows what it brought up for all the other staff - but I want to explain something, and I hope that it gets into the minds of those people who believe that teachers are nothing but greedy and lazy. There was not one moment today that I felt like anyone gave in to the pressure and lost focus on the kids. Keep in mind that WE didnt know what was going on fully - the focus was on the kids, and THAT is the other reality of education today. The economic support in schools is not the only thing teachers have on their minds these days, and under this kind of duress, they SHONE. Those kids knew, without a doubt, that when we said they were safe, they were. All the semantics of bureaucratic crap-slinging aside - school staff did what we need them to do, in the most stressful of situations, and did it beautifully. You cant put a price tag on that, BUT it should be something that drives our leaders to not encourage mudslinging, and bargain in GOOD FAITH when they are called to. Sorry this was so long, and personal, but Im not entirely sure what the etiquette is for this sort of thing O.o
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 05:15:08 +0000
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