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Who was….?

“Nothing So Dangerous”

Many educational writers sent messages about the Parkland school shooting.

I don’t want to carry a weapon.

I want to carry and give a safe place for ideas and knowledge.

I don’t want to be a hero with my blood, life, or body.

I want to champion my students’ causes.

I don’t want my students terrified, damaged, or in despair.

I want my students filled with hope and creativity.

I want problems presented and solutions found in our world–without fear.

I want the “what if’s” of their lives to be “What if I cure cancer? What if I find cheap, renewable energy? What if I write a great novel?”

Not “What if he breaks through the door? What if I have to climb out the window?”

What if a student is outside the locked door? What if it is your son?

Watching a boy’s hands tremble as the SWAT team stormed the room, some of my students laughed. I wasn’t mad–I told them it’s the body’s natural reaction when adrenaline is overflowing with real, deep and unrelenting fear. So the lesson for that morning was a scientific one: what happens to us physically in situations of extreme physical and psychological torture?

 

The NRA, the current sitting president, and the Republican party are wholesale at war with our children. They are enabling mass murderers, they are complicit, guilty, and the blood is on their hands. There is no room for polite debate or discussion any longer. Do not couch your language or edit your actions. Do not be afraid of what your family, neighbors, or (former) friends think. Use your voice and power to push back, educate, and act.

And the answer to the question: Who was…Who was Chris Kyle:

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