The threat of school shootings is an unavoidable reality for future teachers

Lina Portman3 days ago

0 3 minutes read

I'm in my final year at Albion College and have been studying education for two years. From the first English class I took, seeing my teacher engage in culturally responsive teaching and connecting old American literature to our lives, I knew that education was the path I had to follow.

When I began my journey to becoming an educator, I knew it wouldn't be easy. What I didn't realize until recently was that I would learn to be afraid of losing my life in the classroom.

I used to go into classrooms to observe teachers or students teaching without fear of gun violence. That would never happen to me, or to anyone I know. Not in my school, not in my city, and certainly not in my neighborhood.

Until it happens.

Within a radius of one kilometer

I’ve lived in Lathrup Village for over 10 years and never thought there would be an active shooter in my neighborhood. But here it is, the same weekend a gunman opened fire at a kiddie pool in Rochester Hills.

The word “happened” is defined as “to happen by chance, to do, to come into existence, or to encounter something.” These shootings happened, and they happened, but did I really experience them by chance?

According to CNN's analysis of data from the Gun Violence Archive and the U.S. Census, since 2014, one-eighth of the population, or 42 million Americans, have lived within a mile of a mass shooting. Reading these statistics, I find it hard to believe that this is a matter of chance.

My first school shooting experience was in Oxford, 30 miles from my high school. The next was Michigan State University, 50 miles from my college. And now a residential mass shooting – less than a mile from my house.

I am now part of this group of Americans who came close to a mass shooting. A number. As a future teacher, I fear becoming more tangible than a number—a name painted on campus stones, my memory mourned at a wake.

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The reality of the classroom

This spring I participated in a program at Albion College called Maemester. During the program, student candidates cultivate a project and teach for three weeks.

This experience changed my life and reinforced my decision to become an educator. But it has not been without its challenges. Students are restless after the pandemic and there are frequent incidents of racism, sexism, homophobia and violence.

Going to school every day has opened my eyes to the realities I will face as an educator, including the looming fear of a school shooting.

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When will it be enough?

Teachers are one of the most sought-after jobs in the United States, but they are among the most underpaid and unprotected.

None of this will break me or my passion. But how many future teachers have we lost to gun violence? How many dreams have been ruined? How many lives were taken?

When will I finally have enough? When will I be able to walk into a classroom and feel safe from danger? When can I tell my students they are safe? Will I ever be able to tell my parents that I'm no longer afraid?

I don't know the answers. I don't know what will solve the problem. But it's not hopes and prayers. This is not inaction. This is not about giving weapons to teachers.

This is not what is happening right now – what makes me feel like I am taking a chance. The chance that my students will walk into their classrooms in fear. The chance that teachers will be shot trying to save their students’ lives. The chance that I will be another number, an ignored statistic; a life lost.

Bella Bakeman is an opinion writing intern at the Detroit Free Press. Contact: [email protected]. Send a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters and we can publish it online and in print.

Within a radius of one kilometer

The reality of the classroom

When will it be enough?

Lina Portman

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