So It Begins (again)...
So It Begins (again)...
Reflections from my first day of classes following ANOTHER campus shooting
Today is my first day of school.
(As always) I’m nervous, excited, and a little anxious.
And if I’m being completely honest, the shooting at UNC yesterday has me on (an extra scary/uncomfortable) edge. What happened at UNC yesterday could happen anywhere in America. There is part of me that wonders… when will it be my campus? my classroom? my building? Or worse — when will it be my child’s classroom? their school?
Yesterday it was UNC. Where will it be next time?
And rest assured. There will be a next time.
Gun violence is an epidemic in America.
I remember sitting with my college roommates in April 1999 watching the news coverage of the Columbine school shooting. At that moment I remember thinking how awful but also thinking this is a once-in-a-lifetime event (which is probably why I was glued to the TV).
Oh-how-wrong-I-was.
While I have a lot to say about the epidemic of gun violence from a public health perspective, today I want to share my perspective as a teacher, who had to step into the classroom the day after a shooting on another campus where a professor, so much like me, was fatally shot. For me, every day when I step into my classroom or my quiet computer lab somewhere in the back of my mind (today it is in the forefront — given the UNC shootings) I am asking myself what if? what if it is my classroom? how am I going to protect my students? calm them? protect myself? communicate with authorities? know when it is safe? will it ever be safe? what if I need to administer first aid? what if I witness a member of my community shot in my classroom? what if the hallways are covered in blood? what if I know the shooter?
What if….?
Gun safety legislation (which is ever-so-desperately needed in the United States) is not about taking away 2nd amendment rights. It is about teachers and students. It is about safe classrooms. And putting an end to active shooter drills. Gun safety legislation will allow teachers like me to focus entirely on my students, their education, and the classroom experience. I will not have parts of my brain thinking about what if someone walks into my classroom, building, or campus with an assault weapon.
Rethinking who is allowed to buy a gun, how guns are stored, and what education we require of gun owners — will take the burden of protecting my classroom off of me. So that I can just teach. And the burden will be placed on those who manufacture, sell, and own a gun.
This morning — I have spent more time since I got up at 5:00 a.m. thinking about guns, violence, and all of the what-ifs than I have on what I am teaching today and the educational experience I want my students to have this semester.
This is wrong.
It is unfair — to me and my students.
And just to be clear — this is a public health problem that is NOT changed by thoughts and prayers.
We — all of the students and teachers heading back to school today — need more.
We need new policies and real changes.
We ALL need to take action…
If you own a gun, storing it safely in your home must be a priority. Gun (unloaded) and ammunition should ALWAYS be stored separately.
We must debunk one of the biggest myths tied to gun violence —
MYTH: mental illness is tied to mass shooting events (meaning the gunman’s mental illness is the cause of the shooting).
TRUTH: mental illness alone is NOT a predictor of gun violence. In fact, persons with serious mental illness are significantly more likely to be victims of violence than to perpetrate it.
“Framing the conversation about gun violence solely in the context of mental illness goes against scientific evidence.” ~American Psychological Association
Support organizations that are working to reduce injuries and deaths from gun violence (again, it is time to lift up and support the work of Everytown for Gun Safety and the JHU Center for Gun Violence Prevention & Policy, among others).
This is about preventing gun violence BEFORE people are hurt, scared, or threatened.
Asking our children and teachers to learn how to build barricades and to not leave a building during a fire alarm until the all-clear, the no-gunman signal is given is a form of tertiary prevention — in public health and medicine, tertiary prevention is our last resort. It means that we were unable to prevent harm/disease before it occurred (primary prevention). We were unable to identify/screen for harm/disease once it occurred to minimize the effects it would have on an individual (secondary prevention). And we are resorting to tertiary prevention, which means we are doing everything possible to make a really bad health/safety situation as safe and healthy as it can be, given that harm has already been done and all other forms of prevention have failed.
We need primary prevention; we need to prevent gun violence before it occurs
This is about creating healthy communities.
My hope for the upcoming school year is simple — I want to focus on being the best, most present teacher I can be for my students. I can NOT do this unless gun violence is eliminated. I can NOT be my best self in the classroom when I am worried about all of the what-ifs. I can NOT stay fully focused on the activities, discussions, and class projects while I am worried about the safety of my kids, who are at different schools on opposite sides of town.
I can NOT be the amazing teacher I want to be knowing that a colleague at another school, which easily could have been mine, was gunned down at work yesterday.
I just can NOT.
We need change. Real change.
We need to focus our conversations about gun safety legislation on me, my fellow teachers, and all of the students returning to school. We are NOT at our best. Our focus is split. We are running the scenarios. We are asking the what-if questions. And we know that it is only a matter of time before the next school shooting occurs.
We cannot continue with an “and so it begins (again)” attitude.
It is not just another school year that has begun.
It is another year of shootings at our schools, colleges, and universities.
I need the violence to end. The epidemic to be over.
I want to write the story that begins with “And so it begins — a school year without the threat of gun violence in my classroom.”
Only together can that story be written.
We are all public health.
It is time to work together to create healthy school communities.
And for those who are curious…
What am I teaching this semester?
Biostatistics and “Sex & Health.” I am also teaching two classes for high school students this fall — “Deadly Diseases” and “My Favorite Outbreak” (how to investigate disease outbreaks).
What fun activities did we do on the first day?
In Biostats, we collected data through a speed-dating exercise. In Sex & Health, students took a true/false pop quiz. Both were epic.
What did I wear?
Black dress. Black Converse (low top). Hair in braids.
Have other questions? Feel free to ask me anything…