VA Tech

My thoughts and prayers go out to the students at VA Tech. I have been constantly watching the news for advancements on the case, and I think of the families who are touched by such a loss.

MSNBC and Newsweek put together a great detailed description and layout of the tragedy, which you can look at here. These designs are what Friedman would suggest that our students will need to assemble for future jobs. This creativity and understanding/producing of technology in order to illustrate current events via the internet will be skills they will need in the work force.

On another note, I also think about being a teacher in a school shooting situation. In the case of VA Tech and Columbine, both shooters submitted English papers that alluded to suicide and homicide, yet the teachers did not say anything until it was too late. Imagine holding that much responsibility, and imagine seeing warning signs and doing nothing about it.

From these experiences, I take the lesson of being more safe than sorry. Dylan Klebold, Eric Harris, and Cho Sueng-Hui all had warning cries to their English teachers--the Columbine students even submitted a murderous video for a school project! If the signs are there, teachers need to be active or the costs will be extreme.

I also pictured myself in that leadership situation and how hard that must be for a teacher to put themselves as firt to die over their students. No question: I would do everything in my power to help my students reach safety before myself. My job is to help them. I just can't imagine the terrors one would face if something like this happened. But, this situation is one that we risk if we involve ourselves in schools, but I am willing to go in it despite this risk. I would rather try to make a difference than be scared away. I do not think this is the end of school shootings, unfortunately, but maybe we can do something to help stop potential shootings from happening.