There have been 488 mass shooting cases in the United States in 2024, according to the database maintained by Gun Violence America.
A recent report published by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions said firearms were the leading cause of death for children and teenagers in the United States for the third consecutive year.
Sadly, this means teachers are forced to think about what they would do should an active shooter walk through the doors of their school. Some parents expect their children’s educators to step in front of a bullet to protect their kids, but many teachers are understandably unwilling to sacrifice their lives on behalf of their students.
“I recently saw this post from a teacher saying she doesn’t know if she would lay down her life to protect her students in case there was (gun) violence in the building,” a content creator named Jordan began her video. She noted that many commenters insisted this was “an inside thought,” but she disagreed.
“I think we should really start confronting the idea that teachers are expected to be frontline soldiers now because we’re so used to violence in our schools,” she said.
We’ve gotten so desensitized to school shootings that we can’t see how absurd it is that teachers — who are trained to educate, not defend against guns — are expected to stand in front of their students and shield them from violent attacks.
“Teachers aren’t soldiers. They’re not firefighters, they’re not police officers,” Jordan pointed out. “They have no business risking their lives so that they can do things like teach the ABCs or calculus.”
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Two things can be true at once: these kids are young, innocent, and have their entire lives ahead of them, and teachers also have families, kids, and lives that don’t deserve to be cut short because this country and its lawmakers refuse to pass stricter gun control laws. Instead, they offer insulting solutions, like having kids wear see-through backpacks and suggesting teachers carry concealed weapons.
“I think more teachers need to point out the fact that they do wanna make it home to their families and to their kids at the end of the day as well,” Jordan insisted. “I think more teachers need to be able to say that that is a sacrifice they don’t wanna think about making or feel pressured that they need to make it without being shunned, belittled, or ostracized.”
Jordan has a unique perspective as a daughter of a teacher.
“I know with confidence my mom would lay down her life to protect her students, but that means I would lose my mom,” she said. “While she’d be a hero, and I completely understand why she would do it, I’d be pretty angry that she had to because, at the end of the day, my mom is a teacher, not a soldier, and we need to remember that.”
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“These are the people who, for minimum wage or less, work really, really hard to educate the next generation, and that should be enough,” Jordan continued. “Their classroom should not be a war zone. Their lives should not hang in the balance.”
In a follow-up video, she pointed out that this is a relatively recent issue, and in years past, teaching was not a dangerous profession. Yet, due to the government’s lack of action regarding gun control, the field of education is no longer safe.
“The problem isn’t teachers who aren’t willing to lose their life for their students,” she insisted. “The issue is that we live in a nation where that’s a conversation.”
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Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
