Surviving A Rural High School Shooting

On December 7, 2017, life changed at Aztec High School, Aztec, New Mexico. Life was normal at 8:00 a.m. with students and staff arriving, but little did we know that in fifteen minutes, our lives would be changed forever. As a school, we were very lucky! This is one teacher's perspective on what happened that day. No matter where you are in the school, this affects you. Social media plays into this because all kinds of reports are going over media immediately with untruths about the situation, making it even worse for our children in the classrooms.

There is an increase in school shooting. In 2018, as of January 25, there has been eleven school shootings, including high school shootings in Marshall High School in Kentucky, resulting in two dead and sixteen injured, and also in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Texas. This is unacceptable! The number one rule in education is that public schools are supposed to be safe for all employees and students. This is not the case, and the issue now is epidemic, with very innocent children losing their lives.

It is devastating to watch an event like this unfold and change students, parents, teachers, administrators, and staff's lives all across the United States. There is nothing worse than worrying about the students who you become acquainted with and love, worrying about whether they are going to make it through an event like this.

As Americans, we need to object to our public schools not being safe and need to put in strategies and protocol for all schools to know how to handle a situation such as this and stop this from happening to our children. With the addition of active shooting training as well as increased security and NRA measures, our schools may become safer. At least it is a start.