"We evacuated."
That was my husband's simple text. I didn't even hear it come in, I just glanced at my phone and my whole body went rigid.
My husband is a High School chemistry teacher. The last time his school was evacuated was due to faulty chemistry equipment. But this wasn't anything wrong in the chemistry department.
It was a suspicious package in the students bathroom.
I tried to not think about it. I tried to make it simple--like the kids who were enjoying the break from normal school stuff. I wasn't too successful.
People seem to be belittling others for wanting safe spaces. I don't understand that. Do you want to go somewhere that you don't feel safe? Kids should be allowed to feel safe at school. I should feel safe sending my child, sending my husband to school. I don't. I worry where I didn't before. Schools should be safe, damnit. Schools should be safe from bullies--in the form of teachers or students. They should be safe that the kids aren't drinking contaminated water.
They should be safe from guns. They should be safe from bombs.
My husband is home now. Exhausted. The kids handled everything amazingly well--especially the kid who saw the suspicious package and went out and reported it. The teachers were calm and collected. They made the best of bad situations. We count on our teachers to keep our children safe and then decide that they don't deserve any respect for it. We act like they are "only in it for the money." Yeah. Right. And to be fair why shouldn't teachers get a good salary. We don't say about a doctor who saves our life that "he's only in it for the money." Teachers are valuable.
Especially the one I'm married to.
Wow. That's scary. I can't imagine feeling that schools might be unsafe. I'm glad all is okay. (Or rather, I assume it is, and that the package was innocuous.)
ReplyDeleteI am only just reading this now, a few days after the Florida school shooting. :( My cousin taught special ed at Red Lake, Minnesota, where there was a shooting at the high school in 2005. She was at the elementary school, but they were on lockdown until the shooter was caught -- and of course, being a small place, everyone knew everyone and was affected in some way. She is retired now, but stuff like this is still deeplly upsetting to her. :(
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