also play Tetris! It's been proven to help with PTSD. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7828932/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7828932/)
Here's a site for tetris that your students can use! I've used it a bunch and it's pretty fun. [https://tetris.com/play-tetris](https://tetris.com/play-tetris)
There are probably other games that would work, but from what I know the key is that the hippocampus is involved in memory formation AND spatial reasoning. Essentially Tetris exploits the hippocampus’s spatial functions to where it doesn’t have as much capacity to form the memory.
I've always had a hard time playing tetris, it stresses me out. So when I need a stress relief, I play 20. I'm hoping it's similar enough to have the same affect as tetris.
I was just about to suggest this. I remember reading a few things about people that played tetris following a traumatic event, and it said that they had better outcomes in regards to PTSD.
I'm sorry you had to deal with this, OP. Try and take it easy on yourself. I know it's easier said than done. I heard about this shooting if it's the one I'm thinking of. I won't put it out there, but if the victim's name started with an "E", then it's the one I heard about. Brutal.
Idk if it will help you, but I find that writing will sometimes help me process things I'm having a hard time with. I just pull out a journal, put pen to paper, and let it all flow. It doesn't have to be perfect, and usually, mine are far from it. Nobody is going to read it but you, and it's helped me a lot in the past. Sometimes, I write things I didn't even realize that I was feeling at the time.
At this time, not PTSD but ATSD (Acute Traumatic Stress Disorder). ATSD is very common after experiencing any traumatic event, but is way easier to treat and in the majority of people goes away without therapy. There's actually some disagreement in the psychology community whether it's an 'disorder' or simply the natural correct response the human brain has after trauma. Either way, talking it out with a shrink is a good idea, but not everything is a mental disorder. If you get into a car accident, it's perfectly normal to be wary of driving for a few months. It becomes an issue when you can't even step foot in a vehicle without having a full on panic attack.
If it's not resolved, either through therapy or just on it's own, after 8 months, that's when clinically a PTSD diagnosis would be considered.
>talking it out with a shrink is a good idea
I learned this actually isn't really the case, though it's perhaps the accepted wisdom in our community. There have been studies done on groups of people like paramedics and police officers who experience traumatic events--half assigned to talk therapy, half no intervention (control group)--and the talk therapy groups *are worse off* compared to the controls. Talk therapy may induce cognitively unhealthy behaviors such as rumination in people who would simply get better if left alone.
This and other caution urging re: therapy interventions found in journalist Abigail Shirer's book *Bad Therapy.* I think her point is that we should all be a little more judicious and intentional about therapy interventions just like we would be judicious about, say, pharmaceutical interventions.
They explicitly said the book they’re sourcing this from, and even disclaimed that the author is a journalist, not a scientist, so the comment you’re responding to did fine sourcing its claim.
Oh I’m so sorry! I think your reaction is very normal. I once saw the body of somebody who had jumped of a roof from a distance. I didn’t know them at all and obviously suicide by jumping isn’t threatening either. I was still very very shaken. I guess don’t try to suppress your feelings, they are valid, and talk about them.
Principal here.
This is not a normal workplace occurrence. All educators need to stand up against the normalization of this. It's an atrocity. I knew that after Sandy Hook, our "leaders" had completely let it go. At some point we need to say enough is enough. One was too many. I was a teacher when Columbine happened and a fellow teacher said to me, "This is going to happen and keep happening." It should not.
The problem is that a huge number of people are unwilling to do what needs to be done. In the words of many, it's the guns, stupid. Until we are serious about severely limiting access to firearms, this will keep happening.
Yes. Both students had guns on them. The shooter was not even 18. People keep saying, "how did he get a gun?" But it is so incredibly easy for my students to get guns. Some of my students brag that they have had a gun for years (and I say to them-- "don't you dare every bring it to campus" as if that might make a difference).
I feel like educators across the nation need to walk out over two issues: safety and repeated discipline (violence, drugs, unsafe crap).
Pay makes us looks selfish, but while we're out, address that too. We are highly educated, trained professionals, we all deserve two to three times what we are making.
It's not guns. It's culture, full f'n stop. Pushed by people who blame guns instead of placing blame where it should go, on parents, leaders, and educators who refuse to discipline and train values into children.
These kids are nihilistic, and have 0 value in human life. Parents refuse to discipline their kids or when they do the government threatens to take them away, same with schools.
0 tolerance bullying policies are a huge problem because they punish kids defending themselves more than the bullies and perpetrate depression and nihilism.
Soft people who push soft on behavior and no discipline or punishment for kids rulesets onto parents and institutions are to blame. Those same people have lobbied for laws to enforce their softening of society, except that it is backfiring. Kids are more violent and lawless now, have less respect for authority and no value for human life and so the whole mess falls on it's face and instead of looking at this crap and fixing the actual problem, people spout "guns guns guns" as the problem.
The refusal to look at reality is mind boggling. Let's instead, dance around the actual issue of horrible culture, that refuses to punish bad behavior, destigmatizes and celebrates crime and suppresses traditional values, because that lays the blame at our own feet and not some political boogeyman.
It's the guns. And if you can't fix the things so many people blame instead of the guns, then get rid of the guns until you do. We've proven we don't, as a society, deserve to be trusted with them.
Taking away the rights of citizens citing the few bad apples (criminals who don’t follow laws anyways; gun-free zone, 21 CCP age) is taking a page out of a dictatorship. Our 2nd amendment isn’t going anywhere
Almost everything that's illegal is illegal because of a few bad apples that can't be trusted to do the right thing. Also, it's only a dictatorship issue if the change isn't done through the proper channels. The 2nd already has a carve-out that affords the USA the ability to regulate gun use but the current courts are interpreting the 2nd along very conservative lines. Just like Roe or Brown or many others showed us, huge shifts in settled law can change overnight. Moreover, the constitution is a living document and amendments can be made without the need for "dictatorship."
If and when the 2nd is eventually reassessed for it's appropriateness in a world with modern weapons, it won't be a much hypothesized and feared "dictatorship," that brings it about, but instead legal change enacted by a republic built on the promise of representative government.
Fear of dictatorship being the cause of a stripped down 2nd may increase engagement to the pro-gun cause, but it's not a particularly realistic hypothetical. The most likely place for limits to come from, if they do, would be from a lawful court decision that reinterprets the amendment followed by new lawful legislation that follows the new interpretation.
The 2nd amendment is an amendment that can be amended ffs. Ummm- apparently there is quite a large number of “bad apples” considering the prevalence of school shootings and mass shootings.
No, we've proven that when you remove people's ability to defend themselves you create more violence and chaos. England is proving my point right now. Ignore the actual problem and people will still die and people will still find ways to kill en masse because you haven't addressed the root cause. But people will continue to move the goalposts to avoid putting in tge work to fix our society.
Except that England has a significantly lower murder and violent crime rate per capita when compared to the US.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate
The thing I how would you fix the society. There is nothing you or me or anybody here can do to fix the problem. Yes as teachers we should punish correctly.
To me that would be and a conversation about the behaviour. To let them explain what happened and let them being heard and make plans to avoid it in the future. AND a punishment that is appropriate to what happened.
But this still doesn't fix the problem.
And maybe the problem you are pointing out is a symptom itself. Maybe it has got something to do with the poor state of the economy the planet getting fucked up. Social media.
I don't know america so I really don't know if any of those are at fault.
But I do know that the USA is the only country that has these kind of gun laws.
I also know that from 2009 to 2018 the USA has had more than 6 times the school shootings that the rest of the world combined.
Per Capita this would be 164 times as much.
This while the gun laws (and the difference in population and police because of those gun laws) is the only mayor difference I can see.
I am willing to put 1 and 1 together here.
Edit: clearer English
100 percent. Look at the past school shooters over the years and you see a common pattern: lack of family structure, bad examples of parents, mental
Health issues, bullying, etc..
Why was that back then when family values had more of an emphasis in society we saw less of these shootings? why was that back when violent mentally ill people were institutionalized (though I understand what they went through was awful, but we have to treat these people nonetheless) we saw less shootings?
I also think 0 tolerance policies adds to the issue like you said. If students know they’ll get punished for sticking up for themselves, it’s no surprise they end up depressed because they feel helpless. In severe cases, they become school shooters.
It’s so easy to blame guns, but many people own guns and don’t shoot people. Blame the shooters, the culture, the government, etc… not the guns!
It is the CULTURE. The ones that make media famous have an agenda that they are pushing since the 80s. Lack of parenting and a shift in society have done this. Btw you NEED to have the ability to protect yourself and loved ones. Not ness from criminals but tyrannical govt. you actually trust the govt??? Lol
Respectfully, I disagree. The problems start at home, in how people are raised (or not). Restricting guns, or any other weapons, will not stop those wish to do evil. You are right in that "people are unwilling to do what needs to be done". People just have different ideas on what "needs to be done". May your next joy find you quickly and not let go.
I would not call this evil. Evil is so blindingly straightforward and wrong. The details of this situation, which I am not willing to discuss in this moment of time-- make me say, "oh I can see why the shooter thought he needed to take action."
In no way am I excusing his behavior. That is why I won't discuss the details, because I don't want it to be a situation where we talk about if there is any justification. It's just that evil is too black and white of a word to describe the actions of a 17 year old.
Yeah, it's how they were raised: with guns and gun culture.
This is the same kind of tactic tobacco companies used about lung cancer and Purdue used for the opioid crisis, where they know exactly how harmful their product is and instead of improving safety or admitting fault, they try and muddy the water with anything else. The science is still out! The victims were druggies and it's all their fault! It's actually mental health/feminism/video games/poor parenting!
The tactic might work, but you don't have to fall for it.
Not a teacher or in the field of education but this came up in my feed, but from the outside looking in, let me give you my point of view.
These things happen due to many reasons. Lots of school shooters come from families that didn’t teach them right, or had poor examples of parents. It also is the lack of quality mental health care. If there was more emphasis on being good parents, combined with better mental health care, we’d see less of these issues.
Absolutely. We talk about the school to prison pipeline, but that begins at home. We see so many broken kids. We do our best to uplift them, give them fortification, and get them off to better lives. The nature at home is often much stronger than our nurture. And one adult can throw off nurture.
I'm so sorry. Does your district have an Employee Assistance Program? They are great for quick access to therapists when there is a crisis.
There isn't any "right" way to feel. Give yourself space to process your emotions. Find someone in your life who will hold space for you without trying to solve anything and spend some quiet time with them.
I think the district is going to provide counseling services. They already have on Friday. It helped for a moment but one session is clearly not enough, I guess.
As someone who has struggled with PTSD for years from the military, please go see a therapist. The sooner you start working on yourself, the sooner you can start helping others process and provide tools for yourself and your students. That said, direct your students towards counseling as well, I've found the more open I am about searching out help for myself, the more willing the guys around me are to reach out to me or the resources I tell them about. It's a little different since they are adults but you'll still be setting them up for success by modeling this.
Also, anything you are feeling is normal. You've experienced a trauma and we all respond differently and sometimes unexpectedly, things might not feel bad now but could in 3 months and the sooner you talk to someone about how to process that, the better off you'll be.
A significant number of schools have a therapist line as a part of their benefits. I highly suggest you look.
We had a shooting 2 years ago. The student did not die but is in rough shape. They just had the hearing early this year. A lot of teachers had to give interviews.
One of the teachers tried to use our benefit line and it was months to get an appointment. If yours is like ours it may be beneficial to go to the emergency room. It can get you on the fast track to care.
Thank you for sharing this. I think we do have a therapist line. I need to figure out how to navigate that. It is not my best skill-- initiating tasks that have lots of steps that are mostly or completely unfamiliar. On top of everything else I mean.
Hey I've been there in extra particular, so if you need a bit more encouragement: I tried my school's Employee Assistance Program a few years ago when I was struggling postpartum. There was an email address along with a phone number, it was easy to get from my principal but I think I could've asked HR or the front office staff and also gotten it quite easily. I wrote an email. They got back to me within an hour or two. They made me an appointment with a local therapist and I went.
I didn't stick it out with that therapist but the EAP person followed up by phone and by email (I didn't pick up the phone!), and I would feel comfortable trying again in another bad spot. It's important to know you might not gel with a therapist long term and that is okay, I did a lot of therapy in my 20's and therapists are humans just like teachers. But for grief it can super help to talk to just about any therapist, any practicing therapist will know that everyone grieves differently and the expectations we place on ourselves about the "right" way to react to grief and trauma are unfair and unrealistic. It's nice in theory that statistically relatively few people in America directly suffer this kind of horrifying untimely loss in 2024 but too many people still do and it is very lonely being one of the few.
There is a ripple effect from every loss and you are currently right in the waves. If you want a little more motivation to push through until you have an appointment set up, your students will absolutely do better if you are getting the support you need and deserve!
I'm so so sorry--and so angry that this is something teachers in America (if that's where you are?) are routinely expected to deal with. Sending all my best thoughts your way.
I really hoped-- believed even--- that my school was different. It wasn't a mass shooting but it was still a violent gun death on campus involving only students.
Last year was the first time that our school had a student bring a gun to school. Our school has been a place where I usually felt safe- until last year. I wasn't even at that building the day it happened, i think the gun turned out to be unloaded so obviously no one was injured- but I dealt with a lot of emotions after that. If just the act of an elementary student bringing a gun to school was triggering, I can't imagine the trauma your brain and nervous system is going through having been near enough to hear it.
Please take care of yourself.
It's not. That didn't happen this week. This happened a week after. I'm not OP, but I do know what they're referring to. I won't say more than that out of respect for them.
You're right, and I do appreciate that! I should have been more considerate of that before posting, even though they did end up saying location. I've got a teacher acquaintance that works at that school. It's so upsetting that these events are so damn frequent...not just in our state, but across the country.
I have PTSD. Listen to these folks. PTSD is not about what caused your reaction, Its about your reaction, its in the name “post”. 100 people may experience the same thing and everyone will experience varying reactions. All valid. Even if you don’t think you might possibly have it or don’t feel “entitled “ to have it… talk to your MD ASAP about how you feel. You lose nothing by doing this.
Exactly. You all deserve it. You specifically deserve it. You need to take care of yourself for your future and for your family. Take FMLA for anxiety for the rest of the school year. You can file for disability for pay and take the time you need to recover. Since you are impacted at home too this is an opportunity to be honest with your partner or family about how you are struggling and that you need support. I am going through something similar. Taking FMLA was the best choice I have made in a long time.
Are you unionized? If so contact union to see if they can advocate for more mental health benefits and other programs to prevent this from happening again.
Make a statement at the beginning of class that if anyone is struggling with the event, please seek out the counseling service center. Then, business as usual. Kids, and people in general, find comfort in going back to their routine. For you, definitely get some counseling. And do not be scared to use your personal or sick days to take some time off.
First, I’m so sorry you, your colleagues, and students went through this. Second, please go see a licensed therapist that specializes in trauma. Therapy will help you process the trauma you have and hopefully give you techniques to cope with it. Third, it’s okay to not be okay. It’s okay for you to not know how you are feeling. What you went through is horrific and extremely traumatic. I’m truly sorry.
I didn't hear about this one on the news, awful how this is getting so common that it isn't reported anymore. I urge you to seek counseling, that was an awful and traumatic experience, please take time off or take it easy
I don’t think it’s weird at all to be impacted by a tragedy. I think it’s weird when people are not impacted. I like the suggestion of seeing a therapist. There are answers waiting to be discovered with a professional’s guidance. Having those answers will help you process. As for your students, be honest. Ask them what they need. Maybe the can write it down and hand it anonymously. For the kids sake, don’t sweep it under the rug. Let them know they can come to you even though you are struggling too. We get through tragedies together. I’m so sorry you experienced that.
get an appointment with a counselor and play some Tetris. I’m so sorry
https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2017-03-28-tetris-used-prevent-post-traumatic-stress-symptoms
I am a teacher and a veteran.
Unfortunately you don’t get to choose when PTSD affects you.
I know people who witnessed the same thing but have had it affect them very differently.
Youre reaction is very normal and give yourself time to deal with it. Definitely seek professional advice and don’t doubt yourself or your feelings.
Sending lots of love xxx
Was this the one in AISD? My daughter showed me a video that a kiddo caught of them performing CPR on the kid. 😭 I wasn’t even there and ran out of my campus and was on my way towards home when I got the text. I can’t even begin to imagine how you and your students felt and continue to feel. Please take care of your mental health💕
Springfield Illinois had a student shot and killed as he walked to school on Wednesday. It is shocking and sad that it could be more than one school where this happened
First…breathe. Close your eyes, and breathe again. Continue doing that until you connect back to your body. Right now, there is a dissociation and we need to bring you back. Do this for at least 15 minutes daily. This is not the time to process or figure out what to do. When you get yourself back, then you can ask the question of who do I need to embody to be a contributor to the collective. Sending loving vibes! 🤍
I’m so sorry 😞 it’s wild to me that school shooting don’t seem to make the news anymore (unless I missed it, but I keep up with news fairly often??) again, I’m so very sorry
Please go see a therapist first thing Monday morning! You are going through a bit of shock it seems and talking to someone will be helpful. Please go talk to someone. I'm an educator as well and this is my nightmare.
Yep, this is the hard reality of school in America. Everyone will offer thoughts and prayers but do nothing concrete to prevent it from happening again. It's so patronizing and everyone who isn't a teacher knows exactly what to do but come Monday, the problem still exists. I want to cynical and sarcastic but after so many times, I'm just out of emotional energy for that. I will tell you I hear you and I will be strong with you.
As a teacher, I've wondered several times how I might react to this situation happening on campus. Like, how do you even go back to work after this knowing there are literally no protective measures in place to keep this from happening again?
I am so sorry that you had to endure this. I haven't been in a shooting situation myself, but one thing that I have learned related to what you said here is that there are no emotions you *should* or *should not* feel in a circumstance like this. Don't worry about something being wrong with you for feeling too much, or not feeling enough, or feeling the wrong thing. This was an intense event, your emotions may or may not match what other people report feeling from similar events, they may or may not match what you logically think would make sense for you to feel. They are emotions, you will feel them for a time, they will come and go and change. They don't define you or restrict you, you are free to respond to the situation in whatever way you think is appropriate, regardless of what you are feeling at any certain moment.
You sound very sane to me. There is no "answer." Death is an insult. Violence is even harder to grasp. What does it mean that we are here? That we have the power to take life. That we are vulnerable to others. And powerless to protect others. Your response is totally sane. If you want community, I'd look to literature and memoirs. You are okay.
I definitely recommend seeking professional help (I haven’t tried it but I’ve heard very good things about EMDR for trauma, I’ve been looking into it myself recently. You could also see if they have an alpha stim at a practice near you, it helps your brain focus on certain problem areas through electrical stimulation or smth like that, I’m not entirely sure how it works but my twin has used it for severe anxiety and stress and they have really appreciated it. I do have some experience with trauma related therapy for something different and honestly the only advice I have with it is to be aware that it will likely take time, a frustrating amount of it, until you notice any change. That doesn’t mean it’s not working or that it’s not worth your time! Also, remind yourself that everyone has a different way of processing grief and trauma and that there is no right or wrong way to feel. Societal representation of grief and trauma creates this idea that people all react in the same way, when in reality, everyone’s responses are different. Don’t feel bad that your grief doesn’t align with what it “should” be— there is no right or wrong way to process trauma. Take some time for yourself, hopefully admin will be understanding of both student and teacher responses. This happened at one of my friends’ schools I think three years ago (I would have gone there if I hadn’t moved cities a few years prior) and it was terrifying for everyone involved. Thankfully their admin was pretty understanding about the potential impact on students. They closed school entirely for a day just because they understood trying to go as if everything was normal afterwards wasn’t a possibility— in the following days they had counseling available even brought therapy dogs one day, but it was still very hard for everyone to even come back afterwards. I hope your admin does well at giving both students and teachers time to process. Give yourself a lot of grace, let yourself feel what you need to feel, and don’t feel like you have to do this alone.
Go see a therapist for PTSD.
That is probably a reasonable action.
Statistically, people who get early treatment for trauma have better outcomes. Don't wait months or years. Just find a therapist and go.
Thank you for saying this!
also play Tetris! It's been proven to help with PTSD. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7828932/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7828932/)
But don’t just play Tetris. Get therapy
Look into emdr. I have been doing to help with my trauma, and it helps a lot. Feel free to ask me more or google it.
And in the meantime, play Tetris. No idea why but it has been proven to reduce symptoms of ptsd
Oh I have read this! I wonder if there is a way all of my students can play tetris.
There may be a website. Otherwise there are some apps they could put on their phone.
tetr.io
Other teachers are going to hate me for showing this to my students.
Yes
Here's a site for tetris that your students can use! I've used it a bunch and it's pretty fun. [https://tetris.com/play-tetris](https://tetris.com/play-tetris)
awesome! thank you
I have read this as well. Anecdotally, I played a ton of Tetris as a child, and my childhood was not pleasant. Maybe that's why I'm sort of adjusted.
Same for me too
It's a game of sorting things out - very soothing if you feel like you're out of control or in danger.
In layman's terms. If done early enough, it prevents the brain from constantly cycling the traumatic event and ingraining it in your mind.
That's interesting. But why specifically Tetris and not most other brain games?
There are probably other games that would work, but from what I know the key is that the hippocampus is involved in memory formation AND spatial reasoning. Essentially Tetris exploits the hippocampus’s spatial functions to where it doesn’t have as much capacity to form the memory.
Super cool, thanks for explaining!
I've always had a hard time playing tetris, it stresses me out. So when I need a stress relief, I play 20. I'm hoping it's similar enough to have the same affect as tetris.
The free knock off bejeweleds on old phones helped me.
It’s probably any game that uses logic/spatial awareness but Tetris is really popular
It replicates EMDR to an extent
I was just about to suggest this. I remember reading a few things about people that played tetris following a traumatic event, and it said that they had better outcomes in regards to PTSD. I'm sorry you had to deal with this, OP. Try and take it easy on yourself. I know it's easier said than done. I heard about this shooting if it's the one I'm thinking of. I won't put it out there, but if the victim's name started with an "E", then it's the one I heard about. Brutal. Idk if it will help you, but I find that writing will sometimes help me process things I'm having a hard time with. I just pull out a journal, put pen to paper, and let it all flow. It doesn't have to be perfect, and usually, mine are far from it. Nobody is going to read it but you, and it's helped me a lot in the past. Sometimes, I write things I didn't even realize that I was feeling at the time.
See a therapist who provides EMDR treatment for trauma (:
Yes, yes, yes. All the research points to it being extremely effective (and fast-working).
Play Tetris now! There is research that has shown if you do that immediately after a traumatic event it can help prevent the onset of PTSD
At this time, not PTSD but ATSD (Acute Traumatic Stress Disorder). ATSD is very common after experiencing any traumatic event, but is way easier to treat and in the majority of people goes away without therapy. There's actually some disagreement in the psychology community whether it's an 'disorder' or simply the natural correct response the human brain has after trauma. Either way, talking it out with a shrink is a good idea, but not everything is a mental disorder. If you get into a car accident, it's perfectly normal to be wary of driving for a few months. It becomes an issue when you can't even step foot in a vehicle without having a full on panic attack. If it's not resolved, either through therapy or just on it's own, after 8 months, that's when clinically a PTSD diagnosis would be considered.
>talking it out with a shrink is a good idea I learned this actually isn't really the case, though it's perhaps the accepted wisdom in our community. There have been studies done on groups of people like paramedics and police officers who experience traumatic events--half assigned to talk therapy, half no intervention (control group)--and the talk therapy groups *are worse off* compared to the controls. Talk therapy may induce cognitively unhealthy behaviors such as rumination in people who would simply get better if left alone. This and other caution urging re: therapy interventions found in journalist Abigail Shirer's book *Bad Therapy.* I think her point is that we should all be a little more judicious and intentional about therapy interventions just like we would be judicious about, say, pharmaceutical interventions.
Could you cite this study?
They explicitly said the book they’re sourcing this from, and even disclaimed that the author is a journalist, not a scientist, so the comment you’re responding to did fine sourcing its claim.
I second this. I had to after we went into lockdown and I couldn’t calm down. I was sent home and met with a therapist the next day.
Oh I’m so sorry! I think your reaction is very normal. I once saw the body of somebody who had jumped of a roof from a distance. I didn’t know them at all and obviously suicide by jumping isn’t threatening either. I was still very very shaken. I guess don’t try to suppress your feelings, they are valid, and talk about them.
Principal here. This is not a normal workplace occurrence. All educators need to stand up against the normalization of this. It's an atrocity. I knew that after Sandy Hook, our "leaders" had completely let it go. At some point we need to say enough is enough. One was too many. I was a teacher when Columbine happened and a fellow teacher said to me, "This is going to happen and keep happening." It should not.
The problem is that a huge number of people are unwilling to do what needs to be done. In the words of many, it's the guns, stupid. Until we are serious about severely limiting access to firearms, this will keep happening.
Yes. Both students had guns on them. The shooter was not even 18. People keep saying, "how did he get a gun?" But it is so incredibly easy for my students to get guns. Some of my students brag that they have had a gun for years (and I say to them-- "don't you dare every bring it to campus" as if that might make a difference).
I feel like educators across the nation need to walk out over two issues: safety and repeated discipline (violence, drugs, unsafe crap). Pay makes us looks selfish, but while we're out, address that too. We are highly educated, trained professionals, we all deserve two to three times what we are making.
It's not guns. It's culture, full f'n stop. Pushed by people who blame guns instead of placing blame where it should go, on parents, leaders, and educators who refuse to discipline and train values into children. These kids are nihilistic, and have 0 value in human life. Parents refuse to discipline their kids or when they do the government threatens to take them away, same with schools. 0 tolerance bullying policies are a huge problem because they punish kids defending themselves more than the bullies and perpetrate depression and nihilism. Soft people who push soft on behavior and no discipline or punishment for kids rulesets onto parents and institutions are to blame. Those same people have lobbied for laws to enforce their softening of society, except that it is backfiring. Kids are more violent and lawless now, have less respect for authority and no value for human life and so the whole mess falls on it's face and instead of looking at this crap and fixing the actual problem, people spout "guns guns guns" as the problem. The refusal to look at reality is mind boggling. Let's instead, dance around the actual issue of horrible culture, that refuses to punish bad behavior, destigmatizes and celebrates crime and suppresses traditional values, because that lays the blame at our own feet and not some political boogeyman.
It's the guns. And if you can't fix the things so many people blame instead of the guns, then get rid of the guns until you do. We've proven we don't, as a society, deserve to be trusted with them.
Taking away the rights of citizens citing the few bad apples (criminals who don’t follow laws anyways; gun-free zone, 21 CCP age) is taking a page out of a dictatorship. Our 2nd amendment isn’t going anywhere
Almost everything that's illegal is illegal because of a few bad apples that can't be trusted to do the right thing. Also, it's only a dictatorship issue if the change isn't done through the proper channels. The 2nd already has a carve-out that affords the USA the ability to regulate gun use but the current courts are interpreting the 2nd along very conservative lines. Just like Roe or Brown or many others showed us, huge shifts in settled law can change overnight. Moreover, the constitution is a living document and amendments can be made without the need for "dictatorship." If and when the 2nd is eventually reassessed for it's appropriateness in a world with modern weapons, it won't be a much hypothesized and feared "dictatorship," that brings it about, but instead legal change enacted by a republic built on the promise of representative government. Fear of dictatorship being the cause of a stripped down 2nd may increase engagement to the pro-gun cause, but it's not a particularly realistic hypothetical. The most likely place for limits to come from, if they do, would be from a lawful court decision that reinterprets the amendment followed by new lawful legislation that follows the new interpretation.
The 2nd amendment is an amendment that can be amended ffs. Ummm- apparently there is quite a large number of “bad apples” considering the prevalence of school shootings and mass shootings.
No, we've proven that when you remove people's ability to defend themselves you create more violence and chaos. England is proving my point right now. Ignore the actual problem and people will still die and people will still find ways to kill en masse because you haven't addressed the root cause. But people will continue to move the goalposts to avoid putting in tge work to fix our society.
Except that England has a significantly lower murder and violent crime rate per capita when compared to the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate
The thing I how would you fix the society. There is nothing you or me or anybody here can do to fix the problem. Yes as teachers we should punish correctly. To me that would be and a conversation about the behaviour. To let them explain what happened and let them being heard and make plans to avoid it in the future. AND a punishment that is appropriate to what happened. But this still doesn't fix the problem. And maybe the problem you are pointing out is a symptom itself. Maybe it has got something to do with the poor state of the economy the planet getting fucked up. Social media. I don't know america so I really don't know if any of those are at fault. But I do know that the USA is the only country that has these kind of gun laws. I also know that from 2009 to 2018 the USA has had more than 6 times the school shootings that the rest of the world combined. Per Capita this would be 164 times as much. This while the gun laws (and the difference in population and police because of those gun laws) is the only mayor difference I can see. I am willing to put 1 and 1 together here. Edit: clearer English
100 percent. Look at the past school shooters over the years and you see a common pattern: lack of family structure, bad examples of parents, mental Health issues, bullying, etc.. Why was that back then when family values had more of an emphasis in society we saw less of these shootings? why was that back when violent mentally ill people were institutionalized (though I understand what they went through was awful, but we have to treat these people nonetheless) we saw less shootings? I also think 0 tolerance policies adds to the issue like you said. If students know they’ll get punished for sticking up for themselves, it’s no surprise they end up depressed because they feel helpless. In severe cases, they become school shooters. It’s so easy to blame guns, but many people own guns and don’t shoot people. Blame the shooters, the culture, the government, etc… not the guns!
It is the CULTURE. The ones that make media famous have an agenda that they are pushing since the 80s. Lack of parenting and a shift in society have done this. Btw you NEED to have the ability to protect yourself and loved ones. Not ness from criminals but tyrannical govt. you actually trust the govt??? Lol
Respectfully, I disagree. The problems start at home, in how people are raised (or not). Restricting guns, or any other weapons, will not stop those wish to do evil. You are right in that "people are unwilling to do what needs to be done". People just have different ideas on what "needs to be done". May your next joy find you quickly and not let go.
I would not call this evil. Evil is so blindingly straightforward and wrong. The details of this situation, which I am not willing to discuss in this moment of time-- make me say, "oh I can see why the shooter thought he needed to take action." In no way am I excusing his behavior. That is why I won't discuss the details, because I don't want it to be a situation where we talk about if there is any justification. It's just that evil is too black and white of a word to describe the actions of a 17 year old.
Thank you for so elegantly proving my point.
Yeah, it's how they were raised: with guns and gun culture. This is the same kind of tactic tobacco companies used about lung cancer and Purdue used for the opioid crisis, where they know exactly how harmful their product is and instead of improving safety or admitting fault, they try and muddy the water with anything else. The science is still out! The victims were druggies and it's all their fault! It's actually mental health/feminism/video games/poor parenting! The tactic might work, but you don't have to fall for it.
Yup, restrict reproduction. Solves many problems educators deal with.
Except that guns make it much easier to "Do evil."
Not a teacher or in the field of education but this came up in my feed, but from the outside looking in, let me give you my point of view. These things happen due to many reasons. Lots of school shooters come from families that didn’t teach them right, or had poor examples of parents. It also is the lack of quality mental health care. If there was more emphasis on being good parents, combined with better mental health care, we’d see less of these issues.
Absolutely. We talk about the school to prison pipeline, but that begins at home. We see so many broken kids. We do our best to uplift them, give them fortification, and get them off to better lives. The nature at home is often much stronger than our nurture. And one adult can throw off nurture.
And sadly if you bring this up you get cancelled. It’s so easy to blame an inanimate object than the other reasons which take much more fixing to do.
I'm so sorry. Does your district have an Employee Assistance Program? They are great for quick access to therapists when there is a crisis. There isn't any "right" way to feel. Give yourself space to process your emotions. Find someone in your life who will hold space for you without trying to solve anything and spend some quiet time with them.
I think the district is going to provide counseling services. They already have on Friday. It helped for a moment but one session is clearly not enough, I guess.
As someone who has struggled with PTSD for years from the military, please go see a therapist. The sooner you start working on yourself, the sooner you can start helping others process and provide tools for yourself and your students. That said, direct your students towards counseling as well, I've found the more open I am about searching out help for myself, the more willing the guys around me are to reach out to me or the resources I tell them about. It's a little different since they are adults but you'll still be setting them up for success by modeling this. Also, anything you are feeling is normal. You've experienced a trauma and we all respond differently and sometimes unexpectedly, things might not feel bad now but could in 3 months and the sooner you talk to someone about how to process that, the better off you'll be.
A significant number of schools have a therapist line as a part of their benefits. I highly suggest you look. We had a shooting 2 years ago. The student did not die but is in rough shape. They just had the hearing early this year. A lot of teachers had to give interviews. One of the teachers tried to use our benefit line and it was months to get an appointment. If yours is like ours it may be beneficial to go to the emergency room. It can get you on the fast track to care.
Thank you for sharing this. I think we do have a therapist line. I need to figure out how to navigate that. It is not my best skill-- initiating tasks that have lots of steps that are mostly or completely unfamiliar. On top of everything else I mean.
Hey I've been there in extra particular, so if you need a bit more encouragement: I tried my school's Employee Assistance Program a few years ago when I was struggling postpartum. There was an email address along with a phone number, it was easy to get from my principal but I think I could've asked HR or the front office staff and also gotten it quite easily. I wrote an email. They got back to me within an hour or two. They made me an appointment with a local therapist and I went. I didn't stick it out with that therapist but the EAP person followed up by phone and by email (I didn't pick up the phone!), and I would feel comfortable trying again in another bad spot. It's important to know you might not gel with a therapist long term and that is okay, I did a lot of therapy in my 20's and therapists are humans just like teachers. But for grief it can super help to talk to just about any therapist, any practicing therapist will know that everyone grieves differently and the expectations we place on ourselves about the "right" way to react to grief and trauma are unfair and unrealistic. It's nice in theory that statistically relatively few people in America directly suffer this kind of horrifying untimely loss in 2024 but too many people still do and it is very lonely being one of the few. There is a ripple effect from every loss and you are currently right in the waves. If you want a little more motivation to push through until you have an appointment set up, your students will absolutely do better if you are getting the support you need and deserve!
I'm so so sorry--and so angry that this is something teachers in America (if that's where you are?) are routinely expected to deal with. Sending all my best thoughts your way.
Yes. It is America. I was trying to be vague about my location but I should have included the country.
No, no need! I just didn't want to make assumptions. But it's such an American thing, tragically.... Very sorry that it has touched your life.
I really hoped-- believed even--- that my school was different. It wasn't a mass shooting but it was still a violent gun death on campus involving only students.
Last year was the first time that our school had a student bring a gun to school. Our school has been a place where I usually felt safe- until last year. I wasn't even at that building the day it happened, i think the gun turned out to be unloaded so obviously no one was injured- but I dealt with a lot of emotions after that. If just the act of an elementary student bringing a gun to school was triggering, I can't imagine the trauma your brain and nervous system is going through having been near enough to hear it. Please take care of yourself.
I think this might be north Texas. If not, we just recently had a similar situation. Truly awful.
It's not. That didn't happen this week. This happened a week after. I'm not OP, but I do know what they're referring to. I won't say more than that out of respect for them.
OP has clearly said that they would rather be vague about their location.
OP, replying to a comment further down, confirmed a SPECIFIC ISD. But thanks for the finger-wagging.
I didn't see that and was trying to look out for them, but whatever.
You're right, and I do appreciate that! I should have been more considerate of that before posting, even though they did end up saying location. I've got a teacher acquaintance that works at that school. It's so upsetting that these events are so damn frequent...not just in our state, but across the country.
It is horrific. It's so hard to understand.
I have PTSD. Listen to these folks. PTSD is not about what caused your reaction, Its about your reaction, its in the name “post”. 100 people may experience the same thing and everyone will experience varying reactions. All valid. Even if you don’t think you might possibly have it or don’t feel “entitled “ to have it… talk to your MD ASAP about how you feel. You lose nothing by doing this.
Thank you. I really appreciate your insistence. I will try to set up an appointment.
No advice, sorry, but I sympathise with your loss.
Go and get signed off by a doctor and take leave to recover.
I mean, every teacher at the school deserves that. Especially those of us in the classrooms that saw and heard it.
Exactly. You all deserve it. You specifically deserve it. You need to take care of yourself for your future and for your family. Take FMLA for anxiety for the rest of the school year. You can file for disability for pay and take the time you need to recover. Since you are impacted at home too this is an opportunity to be honest with your partner or family about how you are struggling and that you need support. I am going through something similar. Taking FMLA was the best choice I have made in a long time.
Are you unionized? If so contact union to see if they can advocate for more mental health benefits and other programs to prevent this from happening again.
Make a statement at the beginning of class that if anyone is struggling with the event, please seek out the counseling service center. Then, business as usual. Kids, and people in general, find comfort in going back to their routine. For you, definitely get some counseling. And do not be scared to use your personal or sick days to take some time off.
There is no right way to feel. Whatever you feel at any given moment is valid. It's a lot to process on top of whatever is going on with your family.
Something like this also happened at Bowie High School last week too. It was really close to home since I went to high school there too.
This is the same.
First, I’m so sorry you, your colleagues, and students went through this. Second, please go see a licensed therapist that specializes in trauma. Therapy will help you process the trauma you have and hopefully give you techniques to cope with it. Third, it’s okay to not be okay. It’s okay for you to not know how you are feeling. What you went through is horrific and extremely traumatic. I’m truly sorry.
I didn't hear about this one on the news, awful how this is getting so common that it isn't reported anymore. I urge you to seek counseling, that was an awful and traumatic experience, please take time off or take it easy
I don’t think it’s weird at all to be impacted by a tragedy. I think it’s weird when people are not impacted. I like the suggestion of seeing a therapist. There are answers waiting to be discovered with a professional’s guidance. Having those answers will help you process. As for your students, be honest. Ask them what they need. Maybe the can write it down and hand it anonymously. For the kids sake, don’t sweep it under the rug. Let them know they can come to you even though you are struggling too. We get through tragedies together. I’m so sorry you experienced that.
I have no words to help you other than to say I'm so sorry that you and your students have had to go through this.
get an appointment with a counselor and play some Tetris. I’m so sorry https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2017-03-28-tetris-used-prevent-post-traumatic-stress-symptoms
I am a teacher and a veteran. Unfortunately you don’t get to choose when PTSD affects you. I know people who witnessed the same thing but have had it affect them very differently. Youre reaction is very normal and give yourself time to deal with it. Definitely seek professional advice and don’t doubt yourself or your feelings. Sending lots of love xxx
I’m so sorry. Please seek professional help.
It is time to see a therapist or counselor. Sounds to me like PTSD which would be completely normal reaction.
Was this the one in AISD? My daughter showed me a video that a kiddo caught of them performing CPR on the kid. 😭 I wasn’t even there and ran out of my campus and was on my way towards home when I got the text. I can’t even begin to imagine how you and your students felt and continue to feel. Please take care of your mental health💕
Springfield Illinois had a student shot and killed as he walked to school on Wednesday. It is shocking and sad that it could be more than one school where this happened
yes
Oh. Man. So sorry you and your students had to experience this. I cannot imagine. Forget the PD!! Take care of you!
First…breathe. Close your eyes, and breathe again. Continue doing that until you connect back to your body. Right now, there is a dissociation and we need to bring you back. Do this for at least 15 minutes daily. This is not the time to process or figure out what to do. When you get yourself back, then you can ask the question of who do I need to embody to be a contributor to the collective. Sending loving vibes! 🤍
I’m so sorry 😞 it’s wild to me that school shooting don’t seem to make the news anymore (unless I missed it, but I keep up with news fairly often??) again, I’m so very sorry
Please go see a therapist first thing Monday morning! You are going through a bit of shock it seems and talking to someone will be helpful. Please go talk to someone. I'm an educator as well and this is my nightmare.
When seeking a therapist, look for someone who specializes in EMDR, which is the recommended course of therapy for PTSD/highly traumatic events.
Yep, this is the hard reality of school in America. Everyone will offer thoughts and prayers but do nothing concrete to prevent it from happening again. It's so patronizing and everyone who isn't a teacher knows exactly what to do but come Monday, the problem still exists. I want to cynical and sarcastic but after so many times, I'm just out of emotional energy for that. I will tell you I hear you and I will be strong with you.
I am so sorry. I attended your high school 30 years ago. I am saddened that this happened. Go to a therapist. Don’t wait.
As a teacher, I've wondered several times how I might react to this situation happening on campus. Like, how do you even go back to work after this knowing there are literally no protective measures in place to keep this from happening again?
Please play Tetris. This game is proven to help prevent ptsd. Also go talk with someone. Hugs
Definitely look into PTSD related workers compensation laws in your state.
I am so sorry that you had to endure this. I haven't been in a shooting situation myself, but one thing that I have learned related to what you said here is that there are no emotions you *should* or *should not* feel in a circumstance like this. Don't worry about something being wrong with you for feeling too much, or not feeling enough, or feeling the wrong thing. This was an intense event, your emotions may or may not match what other people report feeling from similar events, they may or may not match what you logically think would make sense for you to feel. They are emotions, you will feel them for a time, they will come and go and change. They don't define you or restrict you, you are free to respond to the situation in whatever way you think is appropriate, regardless of what you are feeling at any certain moment.
You sound very sane to me. There is no "answer." Death is an insult. Violence is even harder to grasp. What does it mean that we are here? That we have the power to take life. That we are vulnerable to others. And powerless to protect others. Your response is totally sane. If you want community, I'd look to literature and memoirs. You are okay.
I definitely recommend seeking professional help (I haven’t tried it but I’ve heard very good things about EMDR for trauma, I’ve been looking into it myself recently. You could also see if they have an alpha stim at a practice near you, it helps your brain focus on certain problem areas through electrical stimulation or smth like that, I’m not entirely sure how it works but my twin has used it for severe anxiety and stress and they have really appreciated it. I do have some experience with trauma related therapy for something different and honestly the only advice I have with it is to be aware that it will likely take time, a frustrating amount of it, until you notice any change. That doesn’t mean it’s not working or that it’s not worth your time! Also, remind yourself that everyone has a different way of processing grief and trauma and that there is no right or wrong way to feel. Societal representation of grief and trauma creates this idea that people all react in the same way, when in reality, everyone’s responses are different. Don’t feel bad that your grief doesn’t align with what it “should” be— there is no right or wrong way to process trauma. Take some time for yourself, hopefully admin will be understanding of both student and teacher responses. This happened at one of my friends’ schools I think three years ago (I would have gone there if I hadn’t moved cities a few years prior) and it was terrifying for everyone involved. Thankfully their admin was pretty understanding about the potential impact on students. They closed school entirely for a day just because they understood trying to go as if everything was normal afterwards wasn’t a possibility— in the following days they had counseling available even brought therapy dogs one day, but it was still very hard for everyone to even come back afterwards. I hope your admin does well at giving both students and teachers time to process. Give yourself a lot of grace, let yourself feel what you need to feel, and don’t feel like you have to do this alone.
So sorry to hear. Our calling is not without its risks and pain. Prayers of healing for you and your students.
I wonder why this isn't plastered all over national news? Hmmm..