To Protect Children, Schools have to Normalize Gun Violence

<p>Whenever we have fire drills in school (and the Law says we must have them monthly) a student invariably asks me why we do it. It&rsquo;s a reasonable question if you are ten years old. Ten year olds actually ask more reasonable questions than adults. Fire drills are loud, disruptive, half-chaotic. The teachers yell at the kids to stay silent, stay in line, stay calm, even though nothing is actually going on but that damned shrieking alarm.</p> <p>So I explain that we practice for a possible event that might make us panic and do the wrong things and get hurt. Not stay calm. Not know where to go. Not leave the room.</p> <p>But sometimes another kid will then ask, &ldquo;But why do we practice if we never actually have fires?&rdquo;</p> <p><a href="https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/to-protect-children-schools-have-to-normalize-gun-violence-4633e42c6a82"><strong>Read More</strong></a></p>