Annette Laswell
Article Reflection #1
I chose to do my first article reflection on a recent school shooting in Indiana. The article itself is very basic and seems relatively unbiased about what happened. The author, Mara Gray for AOL News, did a wonderful job of stating “just the facts” for this article. Gray writes that one boy had been shot at Martinsville West Middle School on March 25. The shooter is believed to have been apprehended; the young man who was shot is in stable condition. While being a cut and dry article, this kind of tragic situation is never so, and I think it’s important to reflect on that.
Many theorists believe that safety is one of the basic needs that children must have met in order to be successful in school. Gray mentions in her article that because a 15-year-old killed another student just days after being suspended from school for placing a bomb threat, every school in the district is on lockdown. The precaution is undoubtedly necessary, but at this point in time, I have to wonder if any of the children going to school in the area feel very safe. This kind of tragedy must shake children to their cores if they can even fully comprehend what happened. A student was shot by another student at school. How does a teacher help students get through that?
Belonging is another basic need that theorists believe must be met for successful learning. One of the questions everyone always asks after something like this happens is: Why? Why would a student feel the need to take another’s life? At what point does that become the only option a child can see? Gray reports in her article that so far no motive could be established. To not be able to answer the important question of “Why?” must be terribly frustrating for classmates, teachers, and the community as a whole. I’m not sure I’d be able to answer that question for my students if a situation like that ever happened.
Often, the cause of such a violent outburst is a child not feeling like he belongs to the community mixed with an underlying mental illness. Outcast teenagers may feel such despair that this kind of horrific behavior seems like the only way to get attention or to be heard. If a student feels no connection to the school, then the responsibility of his actions may not be as heavy on his heart. If no one reaches out to help, then terrible things can happen. There is never a more forceful reminder of the importance of belonging and being cared for than when a child sees a gun as his only option.
When basic needs aren’t met at school, the loss can be an education, but it can also be the loss of life. The motive could have been revenge, attention, retaliation against a bully, or the cause could be a deep-rooted mental illness that went untreated. The suspected shooter was apprehended alive, so maybe one day there will be answers for what happened. It’s scary for me to think that I could ever have to deal with a situation like this one. Of course, I hope I never have to. Reading about this shooting re-opened my eyes to the importance of knowing my students. Education is one part of school, but the social and cognitive skills children are developing and the lives they are leading are just as much a part of their school day. It’s important to remember that.
References
Gray, M. (2011) One Person Shot at Indiana Middle School, Suspect in Custody. http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/25/police-one-person-shot-at-indiana-middle-school-suspect-in-cus/?flv=1
I agree that the students needs were not met. School shootings often happen because of bullying in schoools or seclusions or not being "cool" enough. We need to watch out for those students at risk to prevent anything like this from happening in the schools we teach at.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that having a safe environment is crucial to having children being productive in class. In my high school we had a similar situation with a student who over dosed and then pulled a gun in his gym class. He said that the gun was for him but it put a lot of fear into the school as a whole and a few students stayed home for the rest of the week. It didn't help any that this particular day was on 9/11/2001 after the planes crashed. I think because of both tramatic events it caused us to be even more fearful. After all of the call in's the next day the district decided to close for the remainder of the week knowing that know student would be focused enough to study and do school work.
ReplyDeleteThese situations are very frightful for students as well as staff that has endured such a tragic situation. When a student has states they have absolutely no one they feel they could talk to is hurtful. As a parent I have also discussed with my own children, if you suspect something report it immediately, even if it turns out to be absolutely nothing. A student brought a gun to my sons school and fortunately he was apprehanded before he got to use it. I always question what makes these children so angry or is it all about attention they are after? I just wish people would pay more attention to eachother, especially students. None deserve to feel as though they have nothing else to live for.
ReplyDeleteIt's strange to think that it's becoming more common for schools to have metal detectors at the entrance of a building, but with the increased levels and occurance of violent activities such as this, it becomes a sad reality.
ReplyDelete