Imagine If...

Last weekend, I sat in bed talking with my husband. Tears ran down my face. I asked him tough questions. "Tell me about an AR-15. What makes it different than the other guns and rifles? What is a bump stock? Do we need large capacity magazines? Is there a need for a gun like an AR-15 in the hands of a common citizen?" I asked him these questions because I need to hear what the other side has to say. I wanted to listen. I wanted to learn. I come from a family of hunters and soldiers. I have my hunter's safety license. I was trained as a child to safely handle guns. I am not scared of them. I would be lying if I said that I didn't already know how I felt about weapons that are commonly used for mass shootings, but I believe in the importance of civil discourse. If I am going to teach it to my students, I am going to practice it at home, at school, at church, and in public.

Tonight a family member posted on Facebook wanting to hear from teachers who were willing to be armed. My response was, "Not a chance." I do not typically try to engage in this type of discussion online, but I have a great deal of respect for this family member and saw an opportunity to provide my thoughts on the subject. While I could tell that both of us had different opinions, I felt like I could share my side in a respectful way and she could share hers. Another family member joined the conversation and brought up the fact that we are all concerned about the welfare of our children. That is true. This is one fact in which we can agree.

Being prepared to react in a crisis situation is part of my job as a teacher. I walk into a building and see an AED, I take note. I know how to use it, and I may be called upon to do so should someone go into cardiac arrest. When I walk into a store, I look to see where the exit signs are in case I have to use my "teacher voice" to move my children or a crowd to safety. I know how to use an EPIpen. I can check a person's blood sugar. I am CPR/ First Aid certified. I am always watching. I know I have a responsibility in society that does not come with every job. I am always ready to jump in because it is what I do. However, I am not comfortable being armed, in my classroom. I am a teacher.

All of the schools in my county follow the protocol put in place by our local law enforcement officers and sheriff's department. This protocol should allow an armed officer to locate and take down an active shooter in a way that does not put more lives at risk. As hard as it is for me to say this, having an armed person on campus would most likely not stop the initial loss of life. I also know that it takes about a minute for the adults in my school to lock down a 600+ person building. This plan is a "reaction" to an active shooter.  Right now, all schools have a reactionary plan. Do we need legislation on guns? Yes. We need to have tough conversations on background checks, age requirements, and whether or not certain guns should be accessible to the public. But I feel like we are missing something here. We need to look at both sides of this issue. I spend my days teaching my students to think proactively. I ask them to think about how we can prevent situations from happening and not wait to respond once they do. In the discussion about active shooters, we are missing the what ifs.

• What if we had trained mental health professionals working within our buildings who could help our isolated students work through their emotions and give them coping skills that they could use throughout the rest of their lives? I have no doubt that our administrators, counselors and teachers do the best we can with the knowledge we have, but we are not trained mental health workers.

• What if every teacher was trauma-informed and could better meet the needs of students who are struggling in their classes? The needs of our students are changing so drastically. Many educators, myself included, simply cannot identify with the struggles our students bring to class each day. We must be formally trained to identify trauma and how to help students' brains process what is causing them to be in a constant state of distress.

• What if class sizes were smaller so that teachers would be able to better identify students who are struggling? This one seems self-explanatory. I cannot reach a class of 24 the same way I can reach a class of 14.

• What if we used restorative justice practices in our schools rather than decades-old discipline practices that simply do not work? Many schools are already starting this transition - from discipline being solely centered around punishment to discipline that is centered around learning. Teaching students to talk through their struggles and own their emotions in order to improve their actions and behaviors.

• What if instead of suspending for a student for 1-5 days, we had programs in place to put positive mentors in their lives such as local law enforcement, firemen, business owners - just to name a few? I think of how powerful it would be for a student to ride-along with a local police officer or work with a local fireman in a fire station for a morning. I think of how much a student might learn from a local carpenter or businessman. I can only imagine the conversation and soft skills that could be learned from this. It would take a village, but isn't that what our children need?

• What if instead of expelling students and sending them home to fester in anger, we were able to get them into the treatment facilities that they need - be it for anger management, mental health, or substance abuse? This one speaks for itself. I am not condoning bad choices, but most of the time, children do not have the ability or financial means to seek out the treatment they need. And let's be honest, if a student is being expelled from school, issues need to be addressed.

There are so many what ifs, and there is no simple answer. Every answer that will take a large amount of resources to sustain. These answers cannot just happen after a mass shooting, but sadly that is what drives this conversation. This is not a one-size-fits-all solution. No two communities are the same. No two schools are the same. This is an adaptive problem that will not be solved overnight; however, we cannot afford the loss of another student life. We need adults from all walks of life who are willing to sit down at the table and listen to each other. Truly listen. A few weeks ago, I was reminded that listening is leadership. Our students deserve better than adults yelling at each other through social media. Our students deserve adults sitting around a table saying, "Imagine if," and then ours students deserve action.