We're only a few weeks into 2011, but there have already been 3 school shootings, not to mention the shooting of Congresswoman Giffords in Arizona. Add to that the child abduction sign I saw on the way to school today, and the world seems like a scary place.
We had a practice lockdown drill last week, and it was more disconcerting than it was reassuring. On the one hand, it's nice to figure out our problems before we really need the protocols, but I really wish that it wasn't necessary in the first place.
The shooting at Gardena High is especially bothersome. This wasn't a disgruntled, pissed off kid showing up to mow down classmates. This was a kid who was scared for his own safety who decided to carry a gun for self protection that just accidentally went off and shot a kid in the head. That, to me, is far scarier than the pissed of loner. I can watch for pissed off kids. I can build a positive relationship with my students and watch for changes in their behavior. I can't follow them home and see what it's like once they leave campus. I don't know who is scared they'll be attacked walking home.
I had an incident with one of my freshmen the other day that was equally creepy. I don't know if he was high on something, or just has some serious ticks (autism? OCD?), but whatever was going on with the kid wasn't normal. He spent about 10 minutes in class scratching at his pants and then smelling his fingers. I took him outside to make sure everything was okay, and after taking his iPod just to make sure there wasn't anything strange going on (which there wasn't, aside from the dozen gun-related apps), he started literally bouncing in the hall chanting "i'm not crazy, i'm not crazy." As I said, not normal. It was a far too real reminder that as much as I try to keep tabs on what's going on with my students, there are always things I can't predict.
Most of the time I can forget about all the various threats posed to teachers on a daily basis. Lately there have been too many reminders.
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