I wrote this letter to my superintendent about not participating in the active shooter drills. What are your thoughts on them?

Dear \[superintendent\],<br><br>You recently sent an email emphasizing safety and the need for active shooter drills. I understand that it’s part of your job to be prepared for these types of situations. I understand that parents want to feel comfortable knowing that their child is safe with us. They’re not. I refuse to participate in the active shooter drills and I think that every teacher should do the same.<br><br>Schools are not safe. No amount of training or drilling will change that. No amount of bleeding or tears will change that. Nothing short of banning assault weapons will change that. Nothing short of raising the legal age to purchase firearms will change that. Nothing short of banning magazines with more than ten rounds will change that. Nothing short of passing stricter background checks will change that. Nothing short of passing stricter mental health screening will change that. Nothing short of passing stricter social media screening will change that. Nothing short of requiring stricter rules about where and how guns are stored will change that. Nothing short of raising taxes to pay for metal detectors and armed guards will change that. Nothing short of passing stricter laws on gun sales at gun shows will change that. Nothing short of banning concealed weapons will change that. Nothing short of passing stricter laws on how and who can lend out their firearms will change that. Nothing short of raising the tax on firearms will change that. Nothing short of raising the tax on ammunition will change that. I can keep going. Nothing short of all of these things happening at the same time will change that. We can drill and train for a school shooter all we want. The truth is that there is nothing that we can do if someone brings a gun into our school. There is nothing that we can do to save the children that have been murdered in schools. There is nothing that we can do to make it right. We can only work to prevent it from happening.<br><br>In my experience, the active shooter drills do the opposite. Even if a shooter enters my classroom, I can’t save the kids. With 30 kids and 100 pounds of backpacks between them, it’s impossible to lock the door and cover the windows in time. We’d be sitting ducks. Then what? How many kids can I save with my 100-pound bookshelf? How many kids can I save with my body? I can maybe save two kids. This is our training. I think that those two kids would rather have a teacher who pushed for gun reform than a dead teacher.<br><br>The drills don’t help – they just remind us how doomed we are. The drills don’t help – they just make the students afraid. The drills don’t help – they just make the teachers afraid. The drills don’t help – they just make everyone hate their job a little bit more. Don’t you remember why we got into this profession in the first place? I don’t want to be a human shield. I want to teach and inspire my students. I want them to love school – to be their happy place. I want them to develop a love for learning that will last a lifetime. I want all of this for them without the psychological trauma associated with the active shooter drills.<br><br>If you think that I am alone in this, think again. I discussed this with my colleagues and we are all on the same page. We do not feel empowered by this training. We feel powerless. We do not feel prepared. We feel helpless. The training has made us realize that we are all expendable. That the best that we can hope for is to go down saving two kids. Three if we’re lucky. I did not get into this profession to die for my students. I got into this profession to teach, to inspire, and to help my students grow. I want to see my current students graduate from college. I want to see them get good jobs. I want to see them get married. I want to see them have kids. I want to see them grow old. I want to reach retirement age. I want to see my students reach retirement age.<br><br>If you want to know what does empower us, it’s you. You have a platform. It’s time to use it. Write your representatives. Talk to your friends. Talk to your family. Talk to the parents. Talk to your colleagues. The time to be quiet is long over. The time to take a stand is now.<br><br>Sincerely, <br>\[me\]