Fear is a Strong Motivator

School shooting is a nasty word. It brings with it fear, sadness, anger, and relief. Fear for the students, teachers, first responders, and parents. Sadness for the students who are hurt or dead and their families. Anger that this happened again, despite the funding and education flooding the system(or not). Relief that your child or your friend's children are safe.  Fear is the common component of school shootings.

Today this hit even closer to home when a friend of mine's daughter, age 6, was put on lockdown for a school shooting that happened in Madison, OH. She does not go to the district in question.  The surrounding school districts were put on lockdown following the school shooting. This led to a student in another district coming forward to say that he/she knew of someone with a gun in their school. Fear is a strong motivator. Knowing that a school shooting happened so close to them, this student came forward and reported another student for having a gun. Had the school not gone into lockdown, the student may never have come forward. There could have been 2 school shootings in a 20 mile radius today, but because school districts close to the shooting took the step to lock down their schools as well, one shooting did not happen. Good job school districts!

There is one reason a student brings a gun to school: FEAR. Fear is one of the strongest motivators known to humans. Students bring guns to school for 2 reasons: because of fear for their own safety and fear driving retaliation. A student should never have to bring a gun to school for fear of their own safety. A student should never have to bring a gun to school to retaliate against another person.

Maybe we need to stop teaching to a test to please state representatives and senators. Maybe we should start spending time teaching our kids life lessons. There has been a steep rise in school shootings in the past 15 years.  There has to be a way for us to educate students, schools, districts, and parents.

I'm pro-gun. I am a gun owner myself. I got properly trained and my gun is in a locked gun-safe. The only people with access to it are myself and my boyfriend. Our gun is for protection. It is not a toy.  Guns are not toys. They are a protection method that should only be used in the most dire of circumstances.  Colorado has more Conceal to Carry permits than any other state, and we are an open carry state! Guns are for protection. They are not toys. Our children will grow up with a healthy respect for guns, but they won't know the combination to the gun safe or even know where it is.

Ideally I want my children to grow up in a place where gun violence does not occur.  I don't want to be worried about my child while they are at school. School should be a safe zone for learning and development of social skills, not a place of death and misery.

Fear is the strongest motivator known to us.  #EndGunViolence #Teachthem #fear #schoolshooting