The Latest from VEA

Have we become too accepting of student misbehavior, even when it’s potentially dangerous?

The bullet, sadly, did not surprise me. What most definitely did, however, was the lack of consequences. The reaction felt mostly like “next time, there will be consequences.” It’s difficult for me to blame our school division because, from what I understand, it’s done everything in its power in light of the pressure coming from the state that “suspensions lead to drop-outs.” As a former dropout myself and a woman raised in a violent and sexually abusive household, I disagree strongly with this.

My personal feelings and experiences with this student do not matter: It doesn’t matter if I don’t see him as someone who would ever harm another human. It doesn’t matter if I think he’s a wonderful, loving kid. What does and should matter is that this same child threatened other kids several weeks before he brought the bullet to school that he was going to kill them, slice them open, remove their organs, and sell them on the black market. Do we really want to see what “next time” would be?

The school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and those in far too many other places, should be the warning that it could have easily been “this time.” My children…our children deserve better than this. We all deserve to come to school knowing that our school buildings are safe. Unfortunately, it is blatantly obvious that many students, teachers, and staff no longer feel that way. There are a number of parents I’ve had over the years that continue to confide in me with their fears and concerns. There are a number of teachers from all of our schools that I bump into who share examples of their frustration and concern for their students. There are support staff members that work at each of our schools that find solace in confiding in me. And, the various students that find me… oh my goodness!

I know I’m not the only person listening. Even my primary care physician has said that our area seems to be brewing with hostility and anger.

The magnitude of frustration over the accepted violence, the hostility, the growing lack of support, and the severe lack of consequences is growing. On a teacher note, I can confidently say that this pandemic has not been the cause of teacher burnout; it’s only magnified what teachers were already dealing with. It is the lack of consequences that force teachers to personally manage way more than they ever have had to before. We must manage classes that are corrupted with behavior problems, angry student reactions to these behaviors, fearful and tearful traumatizing reactions to these behaviors, and then having to, in addition, manage our own personal magnitude of emotions.

My own son developed anxiety after entering third grade last year. He had to witness violence, anger, and destruction from some of his classmates. Reading is already a cause of some anxiety, but so is his classroom. I, as a teacher in his building, know that he is often not in a safe environment. As his mom, I fear any kind of traumatizing experience and I hate the fact that school is becoming one of the most traumatic places in his life.

When and why did going to school become a traumatizing experience? Why are we forcing students, teachers, and staff to manage all these behaviors? When will public school policymakers and administrators find the backbone to do what must be done to provide students and educators with the safety we need and deserve?

Bonnie LaFountaine is a member of the Greene County Education Association and a fourth grade teacher.