We've Done This 377 Times
I write the ActivatED newsletter on Tuesday nights each week. It gives me a space to reflect on the past week and share the opportunities, challenges, and conversations I’ve been apart of within the global education sector. I truly love this time with my thoughts, dreaming of the “What Ifs” while narrowing down insights that will hopefully provide value for readers and school communities alike.
But sitting down tonight and reflecting on the events that took place over the past 24 hours makes me realize that none of it is important at this moment.
Why?
Because we are once again mourning innocent victims that started their day with breakfast, a hug and a kiss from their families, and a “Have a great day, I’ll see you later”. For Evelyn Dieckhaus (9 years old), Hallie Scruggs (9 years old), William Kinney (9 years old), Katherine Koonce (60 years old), Cynthia Peak (61 years old), and Mike Hill (61 years old), that see you later will never happen.
Why?
Because they went to school.
They went to learn. They went to teach. They went to work. They went to be a part of a community.
And if that isn’t heartbreaking enough, let’s take a step back and realize we’ve been witness to this story a total of 377 times, with absolutely zero solutions.
Like most, I’m frustrated, devastated, angry, and baffled at how the hell we possibly let it get to this situation.
The Foundation of a Community
There’s something magical about a school.
Schools should represent endless possibilities and opportunities for those within its four walls while acting as the foundation of the community surrounding it.
It’s also the one thing we all have in common.
From booming metropolitans to rural farm towns, schools can be found in almost every town in the country. This is an amazing concept in principal. A location that aims to educate the youth of a community, in a safe and secure environment, to one day nurture that community with the skills acquired throughout the school experience. This is sustainability to the fullest.
But we’ve lost this ideology, and we’ve lost this magic.
The lack of accountability and numbness our society has on this topic is staggering, taking place for almost 25 years since the Columbine High School Shooting. Now, our schools are faced with active shooter drills, white-boards that turn into bomb-shelters, and a feeling of “Are we next?”.
A school should be a place where students and teachers alike feel safe, welcomed, and encouraged to become their best selves. I’ve tried to think about past generations and how schools prioritized safety within their communities from fire drills to “Duck and-Cover” drills decades ago.
Imagine if a bomb got dropped on a school every week in the 70s and 80s? This is what our society is currently experiencing, with a school shooting taking place every single week. I can guarantee you the first bomb would have been the last. So why are we letting this continuously happen today?
Stolen Innocence
In the Fall of 2018, I had the opportunity to visit Newtown, Connecticut. It was an event that will stay with me for the rest of my life. A crisp east coast Fall night at a Town Hall playing host to a world-renowned expert on mental health, followed by a documentary screening on the topic. It also happened to be a few streets away from The Sandy Hook Elementary School, which 6 years earlier experienced a real-life nightmare. The event was hosted by the Avielle Foundation, an organization started by Jennifer Hensel and Jeremy Richman after the death of their daughter, Avielle, one of the 26 victims of the tragic shootings at the Elementary School.
The Avielle Foundation’s mission was to educate and fund research exploring the underpinnings of the brain that lead to violent behavior. As I sat in the crowd that night I realized this community will never be the same. The pain will never go away, and rightfully so, 20 of the victims of the shooting were between 6 and 7 years old, and the other 6 were brave staff members who literally put their lives on the line for their students.
After the event let out, I had an opportunity to chat with Avielle’s father, Jeremy Richman. I listened to Jeremy share his life experiences, his determination to change the conversation around mental health, and see his glow when talking about his daughter, Avielle. His strength was something I have never experienced before in my life.
The grief these communities are dealing with day-in-and-day-out is unimaginable. Yet, the story keeps playing out over and over again in communities across the country.
Sure, the media and our appointed leaders will make a few statements hours after the events take place, followed by the broken-record of thoughts and prayers, while the story slowly fades into the archives. I actually had a hard time searching for coverage tonight on television, where the lead stories were grand jury investigations and celebrity skiing accidents.
We have become desensitized to school shootings (377 times will do that to a society).
The Covenant School shooting in Nashville, Tennessee was the 130th mass shooting in the United States in 2023, and the 17th school shooting of the year. We are 87 days into the year.
Now, I’m no expert in politics, in fact, I generally avoid watching the news all together, and I definitely do not have all the answers. But what I do know is that we are failing in all aspects, and there is nothing more important than ending this epidemic. I don’t care what side politically you are on, but I believe we can agree that this desperately needs to change. It’s time for everyone to put their grownup pants on and come to the table to have a real conversation instead of yelling back and forth to try and drive a narrative for future votes. This is bigger than a political issue, this a human issue, and one that needs to be solved. We need champions, and we need solutions.
Our lives depend on it.
Connect with Evin on Twitter to learn more about his work.