I asked a dear friend, educator and mother her views about the horrendous massacre in Uvalde, Texas.
Dr. Jennifer Massey, is a School Social Worker & Dropout Prevention Specialist in Georgia.
What follows are her views and the views of her family. I am indebted to her for her posting.
As I reflect on the devastating and tragic massacre that occurred on May 27, 2022, beginning at approximately 11:30 am on what would have potentially been the last day of school for so many children, which was also the last day of school for my twelve-year-old grandson who attends a rural school in Georgia.
As a school social worker, a grandmother, mother, and aunt, I immediately thought, “Oh, my God, this could have happened to my grandson, granddaughter, great niece or great nephews today.” I immediately felt myself feeling depressed, anxious, mad, confused, vulnerable and that feeling of secondary PTSD was overwhelming.
Since the horrendous massacre, I wake up every morning thinking, “what can we do to stop this kind of killing spree from happening ever again?” My mind twirls faster than I can jot down my thoughts as I am consumed with a feeling of depression. I cannot help but begin to cry as I think of the shooter having to pull the trigger every single time he shot one of those students or teachers. That is a vision that, although I was not there in person, I can visualize and I am overcome with fear, sadness and rage.
I am enraged because I see very little being done to protect our students who go to school to learn, see their friends, find food to eat and worst of all to be safe. Yes, safe from the environments many of them come from. But, because of bureaucratic nonsense that our schools do not provide the resources to protect our students, MY family.
In my grandson’s school district, we have one school resource officer (SRO) for four schools. The SRO is posted at the high school. It takes nine minutes to drive to the elementary school my grandson attended. These are the schools I also served as a school social worker. It is very easy for a GUN, KNIFE, homemade device or any other weapon to be brought into the school- AND IT HAS HAPPENED!!!!!!
In my opinion, there were many signs that this perpetrator was unstable and could potentially harm others. He was already practicing self-harm. Why? What happened to him that would make him want to kill young, innocent children? I want to understand. I need to understand. I lie awake at night trying to understand why this keeps happening. WHY in the United States of America does this continue to happen????
I am not willing to accept the excuse that there is not enough money to secure every school in America to ensure that when parents or other caregivers send their children on the bus or drive them to school every day that they will not have to fear a tragedy happening.
While looking for solutions, I do not believe, for many reasons, that teachers should be allowed to have a gun in the classroom. Teachers are already overwhelmed with responsibilities above and beyond teaching the curriculum to their students. And, by the way, MANY, MANY teachers are on medications to treat their own mental illness. Arming teachers should not be a consideration.
I, myself, cannot help but wonder if my grandchildren, nieces and nephews will be safe in a school building. Neither my grandson, or nephew are afraid to attend school. They feel safe to go to school and are not distracted by the most recent school shootings. My niece, on the other hand, is very sensitive and more emotional about what she hears regarding school shootings. Can any of us feel safe walking out of the door of our own home anymore? We, as human beings owe it to ourselves and others to get to the root causes of the violence, especially gun violence that is plaguing our country and our children.
Dr. Jennifer Massey
School Social Worker Dropout Prevention Specialist