I Remember my First Active Shooter Training: 6 Action Steps to Take on Gun Violence Now was written by the Elf on May 27th, 2022.
‘I Remember’ is a social political series by the Down the Hobbit Hole Blog team.
The original version of this article appeared in Collin County Moms. It is an article just about the steps you can take about gun violence after the Uvalde tragedy with very little politics or commentary on current events. You can find that article here. If that’s more helpful for you and less triggering, please see that article and skip the one below.
A Majority of Americans Agree On Requiring Background Checks- And Every Parent Wants Their Child to Come Home Safely From School
I do want to specify, while a majority of Americans agree on requiring background checks, legislation is still widely divisive. This Pew Research article breaks it down a little more. But the fact that a majority agree is a big deal!! That should equal some quick bipartisan legislation. A majority of people think that we should require background checks, that high power weapons shouldn’t be readily available, and that it should be more difficult to buy a gun than a pet. lottery ticket or any number of things that a teen can’t buy without a license and being a certain age.
Let’s focus on the things we do agree on and at the very minimum, start there. These are NOT complicated systemic overhauls. Regardless of whether or not you feel overwhelmed by this, or know exactly what you believe about gun laws- you can act on it. Please act on it. If you can post about it or talk about it, you can take a minute and make a call or send an e-mail on it- even public social media tags to officials are registered. We ALL want kids to be able to be safe at school, and to be able to come home safely. And they aren’t right now.
I Remember My First Active Shooter Training
I was slightly nervous going into my first active shooter training. I was pretty confident that they were going to tell us that we were situated really well and that we shouldn’t be too concerned. There was one main entry point, we were less than 5 minutes away from a police station, and we were a small school with multiple fire exits.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. Not only did it not matter that we were close to a police station, but there were a lot of things that they suggested we change immediately. And none of the drills or plans really covered the fact that scared 3-5 year olds make noises. And they didn’t include students with disabilities either. I have to attend yearly child trafficking, SIDS, and trauma training- but this training… This is the one I had nightmares over.
I’ve only been to a handful of active shooter trainings. I did not have to attend them as a substitute and I’ve spent half my teaching career substituting and being a private tutor. But every single one has had different suggestions about when to run and shelter in place. Every one agreed that we were on our own once shooting started because a majority of the time it’s over in minutes, and if not it then becomes similar to a hostage situation. They also all agreed that teachers shouldn’t be armed- and that they shouldn’t even be standing holding a stapler when the police do breach because then you become a target. But they did say that a stapler was as good of a weapon against a shooter as a gun was. Even a marine will miss many shots in high stress situations, so a teacher trying to protect students would likely miss. So wider, heavier, and bigger objects might be better to disarm the assailant. Which was both confusing and discouraging to hear at first.
And none of them, not one, prepared me for talking my early childhood babies through an active shooter drill. I mean, even during tornado drills I got questions about why God created tornados and questioning whether or not I could protect them from lightning that’s bigger than me. You can imagine the questions that come up during a shooter drill… and we just have to shut them down. We can’t even talk about them because it’s so controversial.
These Are 6 Action Steps That You Can Take Now on Gun Violence…
1) We Should Talk to the Kids…
By now the likelihood that your kids have heard about this shooting is high. Unless they are younger or not on social media. But if they’re online at all, they’ve heard about it. Even my pre-schooler picked up on the fact that something bad had happened. We want to shield them from this because it’s not something they should have to shoulder. But not being able to talk about it with a safe adult makes it a lot more terrifying. These are difficult conversations to have but they can be done on their maturity level. And we need to validate whatever they are feeling about it- let them know that we are not scared of their emotions. Here is a list of resources we hope will be helpful to parents and caregivers:
-A Children’s Hospital list of online resources including some in Spanish and for teens
–Dr. Becky Kennedy’s Instagram that focuses on building emotional intelligence with kids
-Carlos Whittaker’s Human Hope Podcast featuring Sissy Goff on Discussion Mass Shootings and Tragic Events with Kids.
–PBS Guide for Early Childhood and Elementary Children for When Something Scary Happens
–Love and Logic’s Guide to Helping Kids Process Tragedy
-A Mighty Girls Book Suggestions for Kids
-NPR’s article on processing scary news
2) Honor the Victims By Acknowledging Them
Take a little bit of time to read about the lives of the victims. Like Jayce and Jailah, 10 year old cousins who liked making Tik Tok videos and both died in the Uvalde tragedy. Aaron Salter Jr. was a security guard who heroically engaged with the shooter before loosing his life in Buffalo. Or Roberta Drury who moved to Buffalo to help her brother through cancer treatments. And victims are not limited to the people who loose their lives. The survivors, injured, family members, and community helpers lives will be forever changed.
-Uvalde Victims: LA Times; ABC News.
-Buffalo Victims: New York Times; CNN.
-Heather Sher’s account in The Atlantic about treating Parkland victims.
And after you read about them, donate to the family and memorial funds if you are able.
3) Do Not Click On Stories or Click Bait About the Shooter
Reading these stories increases their fame, something we do not want to do. It can encourage copy cats. Clickbait is generally disappointing anyways because the point is to get as many ads in your face before revealing the info you clicked for in the first place. And the information, especially in regards to tragedies, is rarely something that you couldn’t find in a legitimate news report on the whole event that does not glamorize the perpetrator.
4) TAKE POLITICAL ACTION AGAINST GUN VIOLENCE NOW:
Call and Vote. Send E-mails and Mail.
Please also remember that the people who answer these calls are just doing their jobs as staffers, not elected officials. Be kind. Also note that contacting your own representatives in a concise way goes farther than ranting or contacting reps outside of your state.
This article from It’s Up To Us is a guide on how to contact your elected officials. Jamie Golden has a fantastic summary post on this on Instagram- find it here. She also has a very concise script you can copy!
Here is what I’m saying…
“Hi my name is _______. I live in ______ county, Texas. Zip code _____. As a teacher and parent I am asking (elected official) to look at and support gun safety reform bills. I strongly believe that it should be more difficult to buy a gun than it is to get a car. And because they are on the record disagreeing with this bipartisan legislation, I ask that they also watch Samuel Salinas’ testimony. A ten year old who had to play dead after being hit by shrapnel next to his dying friends. I do not need any response. Thank you for your time.”
I’m adding a little bit more to the letter I send. Specifically about…
*asking what they intend to support to make therapy more accessible.
*Ensuring that all schools have counselors.
*That teachers should not be carrying weapons because professionals in the security field have shown over and over again that it is not a smart idea. Plus a little sassy quip about how if you don’t trust me to pick out books for my students I’m not sure why you suddenly trust me with a weapon (that we would have to be licensed, trained, and background checked to carry at the school).
*How they plan to reduce the need for police officers and guards in schools. So many have been hired since the Columbine tragedy and they’ve arrested students but not stopped shootings.
*To consider rescinding the gun laws that were passed in Texas over the past two years that make it even easier to buy weapons.
*To buy a car you need your license, proof of insurance, credit history, and sometimes more. It should not be easier for a teenager to buy a car than a weapon.
*Please work across the aisle on this issue. Since a majority of constituents agree that background checks should be necessary, and that it should be even more difficult to buy high power weapons, it should be quickly addressed in a bipartisan manner by our elected officials.
**And to Senator Cornyn I will add a thank you for pulling out of the NRA convention this past week. (Governor Abbot opted to record a message instead of attending in person).
5) Get Familiar With Some of The Statistics
When I grew up there were a lot of gun owners in my community. And while we occasionally heard about heading to the gun range, a majority of the time that guns were brought up were the accidents. Most of them involving kids. Kids getting into ‘safe spaces’, locked cabinets, and more- and playing with them even though many kids knew better. Gun ownership has skyrocketed in the U.S. and so have the deaths, both intentional and accidental, because of it. It is statistically not making us more safe in any way, shape, or form. There’s also a huge connection between Complementarian or Patriarchal cultures and perpetrators.
-New York Times: US Mass Shootings
-California Law Review: Mass Shootings Connected With Violence Against Women
-NPR: Guns Leading Cause of Death For Children in US
-Sandy Hook Promise: 16 Facts About Gun Violence and School Shootings
-Bloomberg Comparison of Gun Violence in Rich Nations
-BBC News: Gun Violence in 7 Visual Charts
-Everytown For Gun Safety: Mass Shootings in America
-Politico: Spotting Shooters Before They Murder People
You can also sign up with both Sandy Hook Promise and Everytown for Gun Safety to be alerted to action steps, petitions, and more.
6) Focus on Doing Kind Things for Others
The more little things you do that brighten yours and others days- those are little lights that brighten the darkness. We can fall into hopelessness or we can spread some hope. Spending time being kind is never wasted. Simple nice things, like giving compliments or leaving a super review, are mood boosters. And this is a great thing to involve kids in too! We’ve got a printable kindness calendar here. And 20 suggestions to encourage people here.
What’s Not Helpful in The Discussion on Gun Violence
It’s not helpful to post things about this situation that are mean and demean or dehumanize other people. On the flipside, posting things that are ‘too sweet and sentimental’- like those posts we have all seen about the door being open symbolizing the devil’s foothold on families, or saying that all students really need are big families and big vacations- are equally unhelpful. They unintentionally are focused on victim blaming. And intentionally focused on making you feel better about an awful situation, without acknowledging just how awful it is. They tend to make people feel better, while keeping them complacent, and are self-righteous.
It’s not helpful to focus on the individual things that went wrong. Like the door being open. Or blaming other entities besides the perpetrator, like the very small police department that was not equipped to handle this. Critique leading to change is one thing, but blaming to try to make yourself feel better that this might have been a smaller massacre is just untrue and unhelpful. We just cannot keep our children locked up all day everyday. School is not jail. It could have just as easily been the next day during field day.
It’s unhelpful to suggest arming more people. The sharp increase in gun sales in the past few years has more than doubled the amount of accidental and intentional gun related deaths. Again, it’s rare that so many reports agree, that should be something we listen to with concern instead of brush off.
I really appreciated what Rabbi Goodman had to say about the ‘action over prayers and thoughts’ posts. “In Judaism, if you say a prayer over something, then fail to do the requisite action that follows, like blessing bread and not eating it, it’s a bracha levatla- which is a sinful act. If you pray for victims of gun violence but do nothing, it is a sinful act.” Find the original post here. Of course as a person of faith I want people praying that this won’t happen again and praying for the victims. But I don’t want that to make them complacent.
Can We Agree on This? Gun Violence in Schools is Unacceptable!
Regardless of whether or not you believe that guns are the problem. I would hope that you agree that people being slaughtered by them is unacceptable. That the irrevocable damage these shootings have, not only on the victims who die and their families, but on the first responders, the injured, and the other children is unacceptable. And you can and should do something about it related to politics.
Sharon McMahone, dubbed America’s Government Teacher, has a fantastic post about this. Her podcast and Instagram are so informative. She says “The argument is about the principle of the matter. That we should not sit idly by while our children are murdered… Many of the big things that have changed the world were done by ordinary people… Steadfast in their hope that they could be changemakers, despite the incredible odds. And we can be too. We don’t have to throw up our hands in despair and say and do nothing.” Whether your action is pushing for more counselors and background checks. Or more and better paid teachers and social workers at every school.
Your voice matters and can make a difference.
Resources:
–Original Article that appeared in Collin County Moms
–Pew Research Article
–Children’s Hospital Trauma Resources for Caregivers
–Dr Becky Kennedy
–Human Hope Podcast
–PBS When Something Scary Happens Guide
–A Mighty Girls Book Guide
–NPR Scary News Article
–The Atlantic: Nurses Account of Treating Parkland Victims
–It’s Up To Us: Contact Your Elected Officials
–California Law Review
-NPR: Guns Leading Cause of Death for Young People
–Sandy Hook Promise: 16 Facts About Gun Violence
–Bloomberg Article
–BBC News Charts
–Rabbi Goodman: Prayer Without Action is Sinful
–Sharon Says So: Call to Action
Other Down the Hobbit Hole Blog Posts You Might Be Interested In:
–Mother Theresa And Impostors Syndrome
–20 Encouragement Suggestions
–5 Things We Learned from Mr. Rogers
–Brene Brown’s Call to Courage on Netflix
–Talking Your Teens Through Just Mercy