My children had a lockdown drill at school last week. I am thankful that these steps are being taken and that in the event a tragedy occurs the kids and teachers have a plan to try to save lives and minimize tragedy.
However, hearing my 9- and 11- year-olds talk about the details of moving closets to block doors and hiding in their cubbies where they hang their coats until they get the signal that it’s okay to make noise and come out is gut wrenching. Years ago, when I was in those same classrooms, the closets were places to laugh with friends while you get on snow pants or get the footballs out for recess time. I never had to grapple with the thought of hiding in them because someone was in the school trying to shoot me.
I asked my kids how they felt about doing the drill. They said they were aware why they did it but, on the whole, were somewhat indifferent. This is life now, school-aged children need a plan for what happens if one of them tries to shoot the others.
This is about guns. Access to them, the obsession with having them, gun culture, and the power that people feel when they use them. It is also about a society in which those people don’t feel like they have answers to their problems–whether those problems are internal demons or the actions of others forcing them to be outcasts during a time in their lives when they should feel happy and carefree.
As someone who works in government and as a mother, my instincts are to fix this however we can.
President Donald Trump chooses to blame bullying instead of access to guns, but then he supports cuts to mental health funding and programs that support those in poverty. Poverty leads to bullying. Lack of access to mental health care leads to instability in those with underlying issues. Also, when we blame school shootings on mental illness alone, we undermine the progress we have made breaking down the stigmas and stereotypes about those with mental health conditions. People with mental health issues are not dangerous, they are bravely fighting a disease, just as those with physical conditions are.
Guns are dangerous. They are tools of killing. I understand the needs for hunting and protection but I don’t understand how children can get their hands on assault rifles so they can go kill other children. I don’t understand why adults need guns that can shoot that many people in such a short time. If you’re hunting an animal, you don’t need that kind of firepower. If you are protecting yourself, you don’t need that number of shots.
There are a lot of things I don’t understand about all of this, and I know that many parents are like me and having mixed emotions about their kids performing lockdown drills. Thinking about my babies in closets scared for their lives in a place that should be safe pushes me to want answers.
When there exists a threat to our people we should seek to minimize and control that threat. I hope that we continue to pressure our leaders to fight for policies that promote the safety of our children. I hope that we continue to support those children that are storming Congress and social media with the not so unreasonable demand to simply go to school and come home alive. I hope that we can look out for each other and treat all students with compassion and respect and encourage them to treat each other the same.
Chief Seattle, a Suquamish tribe and Duwamish chief, said that we are all connected in the web of life and how we treat each other affects the whole. Now, that web is latticed and weakened. It falls on us to save it–which we can only do together. I want to know, can this delicate web handle any more rapid-fire shots from weapons meant for the battlefield, not the classroom?
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