Don’t let fear overwhelm teachers’ roles as advocates

Bang. That’s what a gunshot sounds like on TV. In reality, it’s more of a pop. Unless it’s whizzing by your head; I’ve been told that sounds more like a snap.

Meeting after meeting, procedure after procedure, and all we’re left with as educators is a sense of fear. On what day is a student, a kid — a good kid, even — going to bring a gun to school? On what day is some psycho adult with a gun going to decide today is the day — the end for us all?

The reality is much harsher than our fears. The reality is that there is absolutely nothing that can prepare us for a situation like that. Don’t quote me on that — I stole it from someone else. But it’s true.

“We should have police on campus!” shout teachers from the bleachers. I respond that I’ll leave. I didn’t become a teacher to be a prison guard, and that’s already what they’re asking of me when they remind us we must have eyes on our students at all times.

Another teacher had a student with a gun, and not once did someone check in with her afterward.

It’s not the administration’s fault. They’re slammed. We all are. They’re doing what they are told. So are we. We’re all just trying to do what is best for our kids.

Eventually, the exhaustion starts to build. As teachers we have every role imaginable: educator, parent, scientist, artist, friend, therapist. We have to be everything and more for our kids. But sometimes our real job is lost in the cyclone of our many roles: Our real job is to be advocates.

I understand how easy it is to succumb to the fear. As a young teacher, I grew up in this age of fear. I remember lockdowns and guns. There was a stabbing on campus my senior year. But all of us, as teachers, administration, district officials and government agents, need to remember our real jobs.

Advocates. It’s a big word. As I walk onto campus — the same one I attended in high school — I sometimes have the same thought: It feels like a prison. I didn’t come to teach to be a cop or a prison guard.

I came here to make a change. To be an advocate for the hundreds of students who walk in and out of my classroom every day. I am an advocate for their learning and for their well-being.

It’s a big responsibility. I must get to know each student individually. Assess their strengths and weaknesses. Challenge them without overwhelming them. Teach them the skills they need to succeed not just in school but beyond that into their lives.

We cannot forget that role when we are afraid. Our job is not to control our students. They are not the enemy; they are a responsibility. And we must treat them with compassion and respect — even the ones who sometimes make us want to pull our hair out.

Sometimes I worry that we forget to remind our kids that what we do is in their best interests. To tell them we care and are here to help. I worry they sometimes feel suffocated. When you’re suffocated, you want to break free. To rebel. I think we forget that in the midst of all of the fear.

And so I reach out to the community. I challenge us all to be advocates. Do not let the fear consume you. Instead, let us guide our children to the resources they need. We are all just doing our best. Let us continue to be advocates and provide our kids with knowledge and resources of all kinds.

Let us guide our kids toward being accepting of one another. Toward using communication rather than violence as a solution. Toward finding aid from mental health professionals. Toward asking for help and helping those others who need it.

Let us not succumb to the fear. Instead, let us teach and guide our children toward a world of compassion.

Let us be advocates.

Aurelia Valente is a biology educator at Santa Fe High School.