<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Pasted below and attached…<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Teaching Tolerance<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Marcia J. Wick, the Write Sisters<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>March 2018<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Word Count: 1070<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The idea of arming teachers and staff with guns in schools causes me to break out in a cold sweat. Having worked in public education for 15 years and being a parent myself, I am compelled to weigh in on the debate. For six years, I worked at an alternative school for expelled students; for three years, I wiped runny noses at an elementary school; and for seven years, I managed the mayhem in the main office of a large urban high school. I worked with students who had been expelled from the regular public schools for offenses ranging from marijuana to murder. I de-escalated boys a foot taller than me with purple hair and rings in their noses. Never once did I feel threatened by a student, although I had a hiding place picked out if a threat came into the building from outside. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The pace at a large urban high school is relentless. Office phones begin ringing at least one hour before the opening bell for students. Throughout the day, bells continue to clang, marking the beginning and end of each period; a longer tone warns against tardiness. Teachers usher students along during passing time, while support personnel try to keep the halls clear and quiet during class time. However, when you pack 2000 hot-headed teenagers into one building with 200 adults for eight hours a day, stuff happens. Medical emergencies, sports injuries, fights, drug and alcohol reactions, and mental health events are common. Students with epilepsy, diabetes, learning disabilities, and mood disorders collapse, cry, and scream for attention. During the course of a typical school day, office personnel make dozens of radio calls for security, and often dial 911 to summons ambulances, the fire department, or police in the event of an alarm. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Disturbances also come from outside; our school was often directed to lock down when there was police activity in the downtown vicinity. Incident after incident, morning to afternoon, Monday through Friday, August through May – most days my job was frenetic. Interruptions were the norm. “It’s just the normal chaos in here,” I used to say, quoting a random lyric from a lost song. The staff joked amongst ourselves that to utter the word “quiet” only served to jinx the rare moment. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>To help keep control, we had an armed police officer in our building, and five rather burly and intimidating security guards (teddy bears in disguise) posted at the entrances, patrolling the halls, and walking the grounds. Each carried a radio so that in an instant we could summons security or an administrator to the main office or to wherever they might be required. Each classroom was equipped with a “panic” button which teachers or students could press to summons assistance. A call could come into the office reporting that a child had fainted or that a defiant student needed to be escorted out of class. Security, support staff, administrators, or police responded to each and every call so that the teachers could resume the important job of teaching as soon as the distraction was removed. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The “frequent flyers” in the principal’s office struggled with substance abuse, chronic medical conditions, anger management, or mental health disorders. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The claim that guns in schools would calm the chaos is ludicrous. Teachers and staff are trained to model appropriate behavior when students are escalated. We practiced non-violent Crisis prevention and intervention. We used calm voices, non-critical language, restorative justice techniques, and peer coaching to find common ground. We called in social workers, psychiatrists, and other health care experts to work individually with students requiring higher levels of support. We did our best to adjust their attitude, check their temperature, fill their belly, talk them down (or up), wipe their nose, or call their mom. We were not threatening or judging or punishing. We provided a haven, allowing them to sit on a bench until they could regain their composure. When ready, students were sent back to class to resume the ever-important job of learning. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>While about 10 percent of the students were troubled or challenged, that left 90 percent of the kids firmly seated in class, keeping out of trouble, earning a bright future. All day every day, teachers, like guardian angels, open their arms and hearts and wallets to help nurture our children. They soar above and beyond their traditional teaching duties. They intervene one-on-one as students struggle with cognitive disabilities, physical impairments, language barriers, or teenage angst. They counsel children whose stomachs are empty, whose homes are cold, whose parents are absent, and whose futures feel dark. Schools offer refuge, and often the only chance for a child to eat a warm meal. Schools provide a safe zone, a time out from the danger and neglect that many young people face on the streets - or even in their own homes. Children seek structure, camaraderie, and a chance to do it differently than fate prescribed. Young people seek dignity and acknowledgement, compassion and latitude. Adolescents need a safe place to flex their muscles and try out their wings. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>When you add guns to the educational equation, you welcome the death angel into the classroom. Guns in schools would only escalate the risk of harm during explosive situations. Students and staff won’t feel safer if teachers pack heat instead of pencils, or coaches carry handguns instead of stop watches. Armed staff would appear in an adversarial relationship to the young people they are there to nurture and protect. In fact, some students (and parents) could be tempted to bring concealed guns to school themselves to offset the perceived threat in the building. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Now that I have praised teachers and school staff, I will add a caution. Even the best of us can become slightly unbalanced ourselves on a bad day. We all have stressors at home and work. We all cope with financial pressures, illness, divorce, prejudices, or family conflicts. Under pressure, any one of us could “go off” at any moment. It could be too easy for an adult to pull the trigger upon hearing an outburst in class, but outbursts are common everyday occurrences in schools. What is needed is clear thinking, measured responses, time for deep breathing and reflection. Stop the guns at the door. Arm the highly-trained professionals who are hired, screened, and monitored to police the public. Pay teachers what they deserve for performing life-saving miracles in our schools every day. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>