Education in America

A piece I wrote over the last few days Trigger Warning: mentions of specific school shootings

I am seventeen years old, but I will be eighteen in about five days. I wouldn’t consider myself that old. I only graduated high school eight days ago and I have yet to begin my freshman year of college. However, I have lived through a lot of events that could be considered traumatic for any child my age in America. 

On December 14th, 2012 there was a shooting in Connecticut at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. I was only eight when this occurred. I didn’t know much about the event at the time. But I did later learn that there were twenty-eight killed (twenty students, six teachers, the shooter’s mother, and the shooter himself) and two injured. Back when this event first occurred, I didn’t understand it at the time, but the students began being taught how to hide in the classroom and sit quietly in case an intruder came to harm my fellow classmates, teachers, and myself. 

On February 14th, 2018 there was a school shooting in Parkland, Florida. I was only thirteen at the time, but this was the beginning of the schools around me changing their lockdown procedures. Along with the change in lockdown procedures, we also practice another type of drill that most of my fellow classmates didn’t even realize was a drill. Although I only mention these two specific events, there were numerous other shootings at many different schools throughout America between 2012 and 2022. This year, my school alone had a handful of threats but was lucky enough to not have any actual shootings occur. 

Now it is summertime and I am going off to college with the goal of becoming an elementary teacher. However, I am terrified of what will occur when I become one. Will I experience an active threat? Will I be able to keep my future students safe? I really hope that America will make schools safe again soon. 

Reviews

[Aura]

School is supposed to be a safe place for students and teachers, to learn, grow, and discover new interests. But shootings, receiving threats hinder this safe place, it creates uncertainty, fear, sadness that makes coming to school a depressing one. Now I don't know how the future will play out, it's full of surprises, but even when you do eventually become a teacher, you'll be trained for emergencies such as receiving school threats, or knowing what to do when there is a shooting. So know that you will know what to do, God forbid if that ever happens, which I wish it just stops. Thanks for sharing, enjoy your first year of college!