As we reach the end of another school year, we were slapped
in the face last week by the reality of the country we live in.
There’s no reason to rehash what happened. Because, in all
likelihood, we will have to go through it all again within the next few weeks
(thanks to summer vacation, it hopefully won’t be at a school).
Through all the noise of people arguing about what we should
or shouldn’t do, there has been one thing that those arguing against further
gun control keep bringing up – mental health. We need to address why young
people are doing this over and over again. They always bring up the usual
suspects: video game violence, lack of religion, the eroding of “traditional”
family values. And through it all, the number one solution from some is to
harden schools. Improve security. Make them more like prisons. And, gawd
forbid, arm the teachers.
However, I would argue that one of the best solutions that I
can think of – and we’re playing the long game here – is the exact opposite. We
need to soften schools.
What exactly does that mean? If the people who make the
decisions are going to throw all kinds of money to help fortify the schools,
why don’t we find a way to make sure that our schools are places where kids are
going to feel safe, protected, loved, and helped? Make them a place where
students are excited to be rather than places that they dread.
Remember, we’re looking at the long game here. So let’s look
at some options to address things long term.
How much better might a child grow up if they weren’t hungry
all the time, or facing food insecurity every day? Let’s take that money and
invest in making school cafeterias places where they can get healthy food they
want to eat. There were several instances in my time working at the elementary
school where the students didn’t want to eat the food they were being served by
the cafeteria because the district’s food budget wasn’t covering better,
healthier options. Several studies over the years have shown how much better a
child does in school when they are able to have breakfast. A good lunch will
help propel their growth just as much – especially if they go home to little or
no food.
How much better might a child grow up if there were enough counselors
to help guide them through the rough patches? To help them cope with their lives
in this hyper, short-term attention span society? Our schools do not have
enough counselors to help them cope with the stresses they have to go through.
Food insecurity is only one thing many children have to deal with. Anger from living
in a society where a child goes home to see an exhausted set of parents who are
constantly working to try and keep their family just above water, making sure
their kids have the proper clothes, shoes, and school supplies, while also trying
to give them the things they need to remain children. Schools nee people who
are trained to help kids cope with – and teach ways to stop – bullying.
How much better might a child grow up if there was universal
broadband? As children get older, and as the education system evolves, the need
for home internet is going to get exponentially more important. This isn’t the
era where a family can have a set of encyclopedias to look up the information
they need to complete reports, or assignments. The pandemic put a spotlight on
the immense gap there is between the haves and have nots when it comes to
computer and internet access. We were lucky enough to continue working and
being able to pay for better internet service. Many, many more were not. And
those kids fell far more behind than the others because they didn’t connect
online with their teachers every day.
How much better might a child grow up if there are more
people supporting them in the classroom? I get that things have changed in the
long time since I was an elementary school student, but I know that it helped
the learning environment that we had instructional aides in the classroom every
day in the early grades. One teacher cannot be everywhere at once to give the
attention that each one of the 20 first grade students need when they are
learning a new concept. Or to be able to separate students into groups based on
their reading strength and just focus on one group and hope the other group (or
groups) will remain quiet. Or to take one at a time aside to do individual
assessments (schools tend to bring in substitute teachers to help on days like
this). How much better would it be if instead of a 1:20 ratio, it was 1:10,
even if it’s an instructional aide? Even if it’s just for four hours a day?
How much better might a child grow up if the teachers who
were in their classrooms wanted to be there and were paid well enough to live in
the neighborhoods they teach? A teacher’s attitude rubs off on his or her
class. If a teacher is struggling, it will show, and it will change the tenor
of the room. Especially if they’re being counted on to buy their own supplies,
get their own incentives for the students, and, in some cases, paying for food
to help keep the children in their class from going hungry. Right now, we
expect too much from our teachers, especially with how little we pay them. Most
“teachers” are also: counselors, protectors, doctors, nurses, psychologists, IT
workers, surrogate parents, and students themselves. And none of that includes
what their lives are like outside of the school campus, where they are also
parents and providers for their own families, who have to put up with them
bringing work home at night and on the weekend (we saw a woman grading papers
at an Ontario Reign game once).
How much better might a child grow up if the school they
attended was fit for use by the students? Schools are aging, and many need
renovations to be make them environmentally safe. Many are too small for
everything that a proper modern classroom needs. Desks and chairs are not outfitted
in ways that a child can have a Chromebook on their desk and do anything else.
Most probably need power upgrades to run new tech along with new roofs,
insulation, and heating/cooling systems, not just a coat of paint and new
carpet. And that’s not to say anything about the need for books, pencils, pens,
crayons, paper, and enough supplies so that no child ever has to share.
Now will all these change anything, stop mass shooting on
campuses? Probably not right away. There are too many things that are wrong
that can’t (or won’t) be fixed in time to put an end to all of this madness.
So, yes, there will be the need to make security fixes on some campuses. Many
schools have gates are push open out, and you need a key to get in – and many
of them are chained shut as well. And if the school has a public park attached
to it as well (an extension of the playground), then there are entry points that
are accessible by anyone willing to hop a fence. But the older the kids get,
the harder it is to funnel them into one entrance, especially when they start
driving. Add in the hormones of confused teenagers, and you will never be able
to stop all incidents on campuses.
The thing that bothers me the most by the main argument I
hear is that putting common sense safeguards in place won’t stop all these
things from happening. To which I answer “Duh.” People argued that mandating
seatbelts wouldn’t stop people from being hurt or killed in car accidents, but
they sure as heck have helped cut down on fatal incidents. We can’t be looking
for elusive cure-all solutions that are going to be 100 percent effective
immediately, that’s impractical (cynically, I think that may be the point for
some of these people). But make a start. Little changes can make a big
difference.
After all, could you imagine a world where school age
children are treated with a level of dignity and humanity that many espouse
would be the Christian way of doing things? Treated in a way where their
problems mattered and there were people who were willing to listen and help
them? Able to go home after getting a nutritious, filling meal (or two) without
feeling ashamed of their family’s financial situation (without being shamed by
cafeteria workers because they can’t afford to pay their bill)? Or to go
through the day without being bullied for being different because there are
enough adults there to make sure that bullying is nipped in the bud?
Maybe then, a lot fewer of them might grow up so emotionally
detached that they think the only way out is to get a gun and shoot up others.