One very important reason for the Value Add project is because I found it very difficult to enter into meaningful conversation with others on topics that we disagreed over. Sometimes the disagreement was over what should be considered facts or “alternative facts” but most of the time even with people I actually agreed with we might say something that set the other person off. This means that even people who love and are for the same sort of action in the world may fight and argue vehemently, we miss each other. Have you ever ended a conversation with “I guess we were saying the same thing we just didn’t know it?” I have learned a lot about dialogue and how dialogue’s aim is to understand and be understood, rather than agreement. The guests on our podcast, the blog, and the topics we engage with are meant to help us understand and be understood, not always agree. Today the guest post is by my wife, Janel Coburn, and editor of the blog. As a teacher she discusses the recent school shooting.
On the Shooting in Parkland, Florida
by Janel Coburn
In the last week, the nation has been reeling over the tragic events that unfolded at Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. With 17 people dead, it’s recorded as one of the deadliest school shootings in America’s history. I tend not to lean into politics too heavily and pride myself in being a person that sees both sides of most issues. However, with this massacre, I have been doing these things less.
I have been more involved in watching the news coverage around the school shooting, listening to the head of the NRA and Marco Rubio discuss the issue, and viewing footage of surviving students as they begin a riot like something we’ve never seen. On the flip side, however, I’ve been talking with my own students about the events and running through Code Red drills in my own classroom. I teach ETK and have a class full of four and five year olds that are terrified at the notion that we would have to hide in our closet and reading corner if someone came to our campus with the intent to do harm.
We practiced hiding and being quiet and, after we received the all clear from the administration, began the conversation. I simply asked my students how they were feeling in that moment and their responses were heartbreaking. I’ll paraphrase a few of their responses so you can gather an idea of what this mindset of fear can do to even the smallest of children.
One student rattled off questions about how the closet would keep us safe. She expressed concern that if I was the one keeping them safe, what would they do if I was killed first? Maybe they could run and hide somewhere else while the killer was chasing me to kill me. But who would teach them if their teacher was dead? Could a doctor help them if they had bullets in their bodies like they do in the movies? Did I think she should practice hiding at home too in case someone came to her house to kill the family?
Another student couldn’t stop shaking and crying. She kept talking about how she thought it was real and didn’t want to lose any of her friends. “Why would someone want to kill me, teacher?”
Yet another student was confident in the fact that he could fix me with a few bandaids if I was shot protecting them – his innocence filled me with hope and satisfaction. That’s how a young mind SHOULD work!
I am not a staunch believer in gun control or gun rights. I do not hold a strong allegiance to either the Republican or Democratic party. For goodness sakes, I hadn’t even voted until the latest presidential elections. But this is something I stand for: children should not live in a state of fear. I have seen too many examples and had too many conversations in the last week that prove to me that, because of this most recent shooting and it’s media coverage, my little innocent students now live in a constant state of fear that isn’t going to be easily shaken.
SOMETHING MUST BE DONE. We just have to figure out what that something will be. In the meantime, may God bless our country with wisdom and solidarity while the entire country focuses on what’s most important – our future generations.