Will American students ever know a world without them?
 | By Jyoti Thottam Deputy Op-Ed Editor |
In the public schools I attended in New York and Texas, fire drills were true surprises. I remember the jolt at the sound of the bell, the rush of excitement at the break in routine and my classmates' wily maneuvers as everyone tried to get in line near their friends. In the public schools my children attend, the fire drills are about the same, but the school safety protocols now also include lockdown drills. My daughters have learned to take shelter in their classrooms, to stay absolutely quiet and to keep away from doors with windows, to avoid being in the line of sight of a gunman. |
In other words, they are part of a generation of American students "who only know life in the world of school shootings," as Sarah Lerner, a teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., wrote in her recent essay for Times Opinion about the Nov. 30 attack at a high school near Detroit. "Reading the accounts of what happened at Oxford High School, I noticed examples of teachers trying to do the right thing, raising concerns to the officials who were supposed to act," she wrote. "But at the same time, teachers are left with the horrifying reality that they can do only so much as a line of defense to protect their students." |
Lerner was on campus that terrible day in 2018 when a former student killed 17 people at her school. That violence changed her community, her students and her own life permanently, and it gives her an unusual and compelling perspective on the seemingly intractable problem of gun violence in American schools. I urge you to read her essay here. |
Subscriber Exclusive: On Dec. 15, Tom Morello, the acclaimed musician and activist, will be speaking at a virtual event about the role of music in protest movements. He'll talk about the music that defines our charged time, and he wants to know what you would put on that soundtrack. Nominate a song so you can create that soundtrack with him. Sign up for the event here. |
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