School Threats-Thoughts from a Teacher/Mom

Good Morning. 

 I'm sitting here, literally minutes away from getting dressed and starting my day as a teacher.  Every day when I walk through those classroom doors, I drop my baggage, my bad days, my worries and focus on my class.

What many know and some don't is I also walk my own two kids through the doors and send them off to their own classrooms.  A place where I am now just a parent and no longer the sole protector of them. I don't think about it most days honestly.

This morning I am though. I woke up to text messages from some of my parents, facebook posts and a pit in my stomach. Apparently on Tik Tok (which I don't have and don't know how to use) there is a nationwide threat of school violence for tomorrow, December 17th.  

My first reaction was....not at my school.  We're a small Montessori school that attracts good families and our students are not like all of the "public" school kids.  But in reality, it could be anyone and anywhere.  This pandemic has really done some serious mental health damage, especially in California, to our students.  You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that crime is up, attitudes are flaring and the general tone of our nation is just not a positive one.  

Since I don't tend to panic over things like this, I thought it would be a no brainer to send my children to school tomorrow.  I'll be there, we'll all be together and I'm not really concerned as there has been no direct threat to our school or the surrounding ones.  But then I get messages from parents.  Parents who I respect and are not over reactive, saying that they will be keeping their kids home on Friday.  Maybe I'm not reacting enough?  

I'm torn in situations like this. Of course I want my kids to be safe.  I don't want to worry about any type of violence on our school campus, especially ones involving guns.  I also struggle with the "better safe than sorry" mentality because I think that in itself has done irreparable  damage to our country during this pandemic and long before as well.  

Yes, we practice lock down drills, I teach kids how to be really quiet and "hide" so no one knows we are in here. We talk about what to do if something happens.  Where would we go?  What emergency supplies do we have in our classroom?  We joke about the "red bucket" with the toilet seat in our classroom.  We hope we never have to use any of these.  

The truth in all of this is, I don't have any good answers.  I am gathering information and also  trying to do what I think is best for my kids. If you choose to keep your kids home tomorrow, I completely understand.  If you choose to send your kids to school tomorrow, I also completely understand.  I can't believe we are having to navigate these tough situations as part of our parenting journey.  What will happen when our kids are parents?  I can hardly stand to think about it.  

I think parenting is all about gathering information, making choices and adjusting as necessary.  As of right now, I haven't decided what tomorrow holds for my family.  I have classroom parties, so do my kids and the build up to this day has been tremendous.  However, I am unwilling to take a risk with my child's mental or physical health for a day of classroom fun.  I'm going to gather information today, talk to my principal and make the decision that is best for my family.  I know you all will do the same.  

This parenting journey bonds us all together and we all want what is best for our kids.  So regardless of what decision you make tomorrow, please know that I support you.  Give someone a extra smile today, help out a friend and let's try to make this world a little brighter for our kids.

Love, 

McKenzie