Yesterday’s tragedy in Connecticut is one that will remain with us for a long time. As I learned the specifics of the horror, I found my emotions shifting from despair to anger. While each of us processes grief in different ways, I am struggling to find a way to reach an emotional equilibrium with what took place.
For all of us who are educators, it is incomprehensible that a school, our place of work where we do all that we can to ensure a positive, safe learning environment, was transformed in this way. I hope that this tragedy serves as a reminder that despite our increasingly polarized opinions and digital aloofness, we are all a part of a society that desperately needs cohesion. Although the shooting was 4,000 miles away in a state that is less than half the size of our borough, what took place is immediate to all of us at KPBSD. The resumed debate over gun control may help some cope with this horror. As educators however, there is a need for more than what is being offered by this predictable conversation.
On Monday morning much of the school district will observe a moment a silence to remember those young children and adults who died while at school. I trust that this moment will help us to process the grief of this event and to acknowledge that we must not lose sight of the fact that our school district is a part of a large network of school districts and that we are inextricably tied to the residents of Newtown.
4 Comments
Has there been any discussion about our teachers, with the proper training, carrying a concealed weapon on their person? I hear the teachers in Texas are.
Thanks for the question, there has not been any formal conversation (at the district level) about arming teachers.
I am very disappointed in how the district handled all of this. On Friday afternoon, we were informed via email from the school that the moment of silence would be observed. I have a first grader in school and I felt that this was not an appropriate subject for him to be exposed to at his young age. Despite the fact that I knew I could send him to school late to miss the moment of silence altogether, I felt that this acknowledgement would therefore open up the gates or give license to his peers to discuss this freely at school within the classroom setting. Thus, I felt my hand was forced into divulging to him about the events at Sandy Hook. I was not generous with details but left the door open for him should he have any questions. By Monday morning, we were informed that this decision was now left up to the school and that K-2 would not be observing a moment of silence and that their agenda would go on as planned. By this time the point was now moot. Most of us parents had already discussed with our children the tragic event (see “forced hand” reference).
While I understand that the earlier memo came from a place of sincerity, it was a very hasty and poor decision that was made by the school district to offer something up like this to be happening within our schools when parents, teachers and staff barely had time to process what transpired, much less be expected to acknowledge it with our children.
I hope that the next time the school district comes up with a memo like this, it will have a little bit of forethought and foresight that comes along with it. Our children’s psyches do not have a reset button.
Thanks for this feedback. In hindsight, I acted too quickly with my request for the moment of silence. Although I vetted my decision through some elementary principals, I did not get it right.
I apologize for the angst and inconvenience that my decision caused.