Reflection: Santa Fe HS

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As I close my eyes and drift away to a land where there is love, health, peace, and blessings. I wanted to take the time to think and reflect. 

     On Friday 18th of May 2018, once again we witnessed another high school shooting. We haven't even recovered from Parkland, to hear of another. This time in the Santa Fe High School, Texas. It is absolutely heartbreaking to see / hear students telling their stories, with tears in their eyes, about their experience of a school shooting. We pray. We cry. Bury the dead. Tend to the wounds. Congregate to mourn, and heal our wounds, at the communal and national level. It is a story that we have heard before, and continue to hear. And quite frankly it is one that I have written about as the school shootings occur, and of their aftermath. The cycle continues to repeat itself. Who is going to be next? Am I safe? Why should a student, or a parent, send their child to school when they know there could be a chance of a shooting? Or why should a student travel to the USA as an exchange student to know that this chance exists?  

ABC13 Houston - News Article

     The shootings themselves represent something larger than what is seen, they can be categorized as another form of modern terror, that is happening from within a nation. They are a cause of public insecurity, that is developing in the school system, education, and teaching profession. This is not just an attack on education, but also an attack on future leaders, and generations that are getting ready, and preparing to build the future, for the sake of the nations prosperity. I know that you are probably thinking that you've heard this before, but believe me, I also feel the same, An utter shame that these school shootings do not stop, or prevented, or thought about why they are happening in the first place? 

     Educators who are in the teaching profession know that there are imperfections within the education profession, but isn't that the same as any profession or field? Nothing is perfect. It is about working with the imperfections, to make progress. To make an impact upon the lives that you do touch. That is what the profession at the school level is all about. To make an impact upon the lives you touch, making a contribution, and working at the school level to create positive change / continuous improvement. Which also includes attitudinal shifts, and recognizing where there are school cultures that need to be changed, or altered, to meet the needs reflected by the student population, which includes the facets of diversity. 

     But what about the gun violence in schools, the public outcries, or teachers that are demanding change? Nothing changes. School shootings are plauging the richness, wealth of knowledge, and education, that can shape the future generations. What more can this pen do but to simply stand with the lost, the injured, and mourning communities. To hope that leaders who possess the power put an end to this modern form of terror. to put an end to school shootings. School shootings are not about guns, they are about control. 

I continue to hope and pray for the healing of the families. While we do hear of these tragedies too often, they cannot be normalized. Every child / student life that is lost, injured, or suffered deserves respect, and love. My thoughts to share with love & kindness. 

​Further Reading: 
​ABC13 Houston - Exchange student from Pakistan among 8 students killed in Santa Fe High School shooting

Notes: These thoughts were originally hand written on May 19th, 2018.
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