School Shooting

There are many specific stories of student behavior that I could share with you…. a kindergartener who screams (literally screams) for long periods throughout the day; the first grader who comes to school hungry and tired, who has to take a nap to make it through the day; the second grader who brings a knife to school because she wants to hurt a classmate; the third grader who threatens to break into his neighbor’s house and kill her; the fourth grader who sends messages to a classmate on Snapchat telling her she is worthless; or the fifth grader who theathens to punch his teacher and fights with classmates on a regular basis. These students deal with trauma in their lives. Many have dealt with trauma their whole lives. 

What is trauma for an elementary school student? It can be neglect from infancy, divorce, parental drug usage, parental incarceration, or lack of basic needs. These students do not ask for these circumstances. The behaviors they exhibit as a result are not because something is wrong with them, but rather, because something happened to them. The behaviors these students exhibit can include many of the examples listed above and more. Sometimes they sleep. They sleep because it is not safe to sleep at home, they sleep because it gets them out of doing their work, or they sleep because it keeps them from having to interact with others. Sometimes students will bang their head on the wall or the floor because they are trying to regulate their emotions. Sometimes they run… they run out of the classroom or even out of the school building.  Many students are more content with chaos than calm. Teachers worry about these students. They are scared for these students and sometimes teachers are scared of these students. What will become of them? What will happen to them as they grow up? Will they be able to overcome the adversity? 

On September 4th, Colt Gray, a 14 year old, brought a gun to school and opened fire. He killed 4 people and hurt many others. His actions impacted the students, teachers, and community. I would argue that his actions have an impact that reaches far beyond his community. Every teacher I have ever met worries about school shootings. They worry about what they would do if it was their school, their classroom, their kids. After reading just a few articles and posts about Colt’s life, it is clear that he has dealt with trauma in his life. His parents were divorced, he lived in multiple homes (transciency), and was evicted from his home. There was domestic violence, drug use, parental incarceration, and he was bullied. He had previous problems in school and I would bet that most every teacher he ever had knew there was something wrong. There were probably parent conferences (or attempts to have them), DCS referrals, and of course, we know now that there was an investigation by the FBI due to previous threats, but yet he was still able to walk into school on September 4th and open fire. Why? Why does this keep happening in our schools?  

After these events happen, there is always a wealth of ideas on what can be done. Schools are locked down to the point that no one can enter, they have ballistic glass so that no one can shoot through the window, and many have School Resource Officers (SROs) on site. Some schools have metal detectors, drug sniffing dogs, and students have to carry clear backpacks. Schools have active shooter drills, security cameras, reporting systems, and ID badges. There is always the argument of gun control and now parents are starting to be held accountable when their child carries out the heinous act of a school shooting. There is nothing wrong with any of the things that I listed; however, there is one crucial piece of support missing. What about the child? The student who has suffered from trauma. The student who has shown significant behavior problems, the student who lives in a chaotic home, the student who is neglected, hungry, and tired. The student who the teacher worries about every single day… continues to worry about even years after the student has left her classroom. What about that student? When are we going to do something in our communities to better support that student and, hopefully, prevent another horrific event that we’ll watch on the evening news?