I’ve been following the developments in America after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland,Florida.
I’ve watched Emma Gonzalez’ powerful speech , I’ve watched other students‘ speeches, listening to them asking straightforward questions, and starting to take action. I cringed when I heard some politicians patronising those young people (and teachers) throwing those prepared empty phrases on them, offering words of comfort – maybe even sincere ones- yet sounding everything but… Or maybe it’s just my cynicism talking now…
My own experience of being caught up in a mass shooting situation in Ft Lauderdale (!) in January 2017 really hit home and permanently imprinted in me that guns kill. And I was just a tourist, staying in the States for several days, visiting my family; no one who, like those young people, have had to go through drills at school to prepare themselves for a potential mass shooting scenario. That tiny (?), yet powerful experience I had was enough for me to understand how dangerous guns can be , especially in hands of a mentally disturbed person! .
Parkland tragedy really scared me that my best friends’ children and my little nephew who live in America, are potentially at risk of another mindless, horrid school shooting- unless something is done. And fast! I was glad to see that after another tragedy, people in the US started talking about gun control issues. And now I believe that after those young people from Parkland took the matters into their own hands, when they said ‘enough is enough’, when they pledged to be the change they want to see, I feel truly hopeful. I hope that because of them, politicians and lawmakers will look at gun control issues and they will, perhaps slowly (maybe too slowly ?) start changing the law to ensure that people, and especially young people at school, feel safe and protected.
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Anyway, it’s not really what I want to focus on today- I want to focus on impact those young people’s actions have had on me. Frankly, listening to them made me feel really proud to be a teacher. And it’s not that I wasn’t happy with my profession- far from that! However watching those young people talking so fearlessly, so confidently and so passionately about their basic right to be safe at school, something that some adults seemed to have failed them to feel, made me feel extra proud and really hopeful for the future. I felt that my contributions to lives of any young people matter. It hit me harder than ever that I help shaping future generations of people who will take the baton from us and carry it forward. It made me feel good reflecting on my own practice and my efforts to be focused not just on young people’s education, but their emotional well-being and on bringing out what’s best in them, even if they often don’t believe in themselves. Those young people from Parkland are walking examples of how much strength,confidence and courage lie within human beings and I, as a teacher, want to continue to help my students dig deep -sometimes very deep- and find and foster those important qualities. I think it’s sometimes very easy to forget that behind all those bureaucratic processes and procedures that teachers must deal with there are young people, their needs, dreams and hopes. It’s easy sometimes to forget that behind standardisations, statistics and box ticking exercises there are strong, passionate individuals, full of potential that no one may know about until we provide them with an opportunity to flourish.
I want to thank you, brave and courageous young people from Parkland for inspiring me to reflect on my journey as a teacher. I am so incredibly proud of you all 🙂 Good luck on March 24th and although I don’t even live in the USA, I’ll be there with you in my thoughts, proudly wearing my March For Our Lives T-shirt 😀 I believe that thanks to you and your efforts there will come the time when no one will ever walk into a school – or any public space- with a gun and take lives.