On School Shootings, Freedom and Restrictions

Then and Now. . . and Now, and Now, and Now

I was teaching at Vancouver School of Arts and Academics (VSAA) during the Springfield school shooting. Almost everyone in my class knew someone - friends or cousins - who had survived it, and it was obvious that we couldn't have regular high school biology class that next day. So we stopped and talked about it. A couple of important points were raised by the students: First, that our school didn't have the typical power structure of Jocks, Cheerleaders, Brainiacs, etc. Instead we had kids whose identity sprang from their art form(s), and who had mad respect for kids who were different by virtue of the passion they had for a different form. Everyone had status.

Second, one student said that most kids in our school had at least one adult they trusted and who cared for them, that they could talk to if they felt on the edge. I asked about that one - I mean, we had designed the school for this outcome but I had to make sure it wasn't just one voice. Sure enough everyone in my class was close to more than one adult. And then, one student said, "You know what else? If I had a friend who I was worried about, and who didn't have a close adult, I'm close enough to my advocate that I'd talk to him way before it got that bad."

So there it is. What we need in schools is not more metal detectors, more police, more rules, less freedom. What we need is better relationships in schools and communities - between adults and young people, among students, and between adults and young people in their neighborhoods, work, etc.