Makes me rethink the whole teaching thing...
The students in this story shall remain nameless. We will call one Annoying and the other Trouble...
Today was like any other day. I was angry at life because it was 8 am and I was awake. Science was boring because they were doing ISAT testing. One of the annoying boys on our caseload was pissing me off. My student was being exceptionally lazy. And so on...
Just after the bell rang, the announcements came on, we said the pledge, and I moved to the front of the room to talk to the other aide. At this point in time, Annoying came up to the other aide and I and said,
"Ms. D. can I go to the principal?"
"Why now?"
"My friend has a gun in school..."
The other aide and I chime in "WHAT?!"
He says, "It's a toy... uh, uh a toy gun."
I look at him and tell him to go to the science teacher. The teacher sends him to the office, he returns, nothing has happened. For a moment, the other aide and I are taken aback. I looked at her and was like, "Did he say 'gun' at first or 'toy gun?'" She thought he said toy so we left it at that....
The day went otherwise smoothly until just after sixth hour. I was leaving the room where I eat lunch and Ryan dumps his lesson off on me and says, "I need you to teach for me." I look at him completely puzzled.
"Why?"
"I will tell you later."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, but the police are here and I gotta go. Will you teach for me?"
So I walk down to his seventh hour classroom where the kids are all talk. I'm freaking out because I have to somehow teach a lesson on the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and I don't remember a thing and because of the mention of police. One of the kids in his class (who is usually a problem) says to me, "Hey, if a kid had a gun in school, would you tell on him?"
My response, "YES!"
"Well, it isn't fair Trouble is getting expelled."
I still didn't think anything of it. I taught part of the lesson and then Ryan came back. He was a little shaken up but he said he would talk to me later. I went back to my seventh hour and thought nothing of it again...
The bell rang between seventh and eighth hour and I went down to Ryan's eighth hour class to find out what was wrong. When he gets a minute, he explains to me that Trouble had a gun as school today. I told him that first hour, Annoying told me that his friend (these two are KNOWN friends but I didn't know who he was referring to first hour) had a TOY gun in school. Ryan looked at me, serious as shit, and was like, "I saw it, it wasn't a toy."
As I am about to leave his room and head back to my eighth hour, a resource teacher and another aide are in the hallway telling us to get into our classrooms and that no one was allowed to leave. I'm thinking, "Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit." So I carry on helping Torrie's students like nothing had happened. When Ryan sat down, I started talking to him and he told me the reason I couldn't leave is because the police were doing locker searches and that there were dogs also searching the school. I was okay to go at that point in time and, as I walked to my eighth hour, I ran into another teacher who told me to "Leave the education field while I still can."
At the end of the day, announcements came on, per usual, but there was one specific announcement: "Teachers and staff, there is a mandatory meeting after school in the small gym. Everyone MUST go. It will be short." Then, the announcements ask my eighth hour teacher if he can do bus duty. That teacher asks me to go to the office and get a walkie-talkie. On the way there, I run into annoying.
"Tell me the truth, did you know that was a real gun when I talked to you first hour?"
"No, I thought it was a toy but then I realized Trouble stole my dad's gun."
Something seems fishy about that one.....
Anyway, in our meeting, we were told that Trouble brought a starter pistol to school and that, although it was unloaded and could only shoot blanks, it is still a gun. During Trouble's fourth hour, the students were working on more ISAT practice. His teacher was working with a group and he took out this gun and pointed it at her back. Other children saw but were afraid to tell on him. During study hall (which Ryan is in charge of and that is why he had to go to the office and I had to sub his class), a group of students approached Ryan and told him what happened.
Imagine if that was a real gun. This kid walked around for almost the entire day with it in his pocket. Scary shit. And I don't work in the inner city of Chicago. I work in a predominantly white, affluent area. This just goes to show you that this shit can happen anytime, anywhere....
Today was like any other day. I was angry at life because it was 8 am and I was awake. Science was boring because they were doing ISAT testing. One of the annoying boys on our caseload was pissing me off. My student was being exceptionally lazy. And so on...
Just after the bell rang, the announcements came on, we said the pledge, and I moved to the front of the room to talk to the other aide. At this point in time, Annoying came up to the other aide and I and said,
"Ms. D. can I go to the principal?"
"Why now?"
"My friend has a gun in school..."
The other aide and I chime in "WHAT?!"
He says, "It's a toy... uh, uh a toy gun."
I look at him and tell him to go to the science teacher. The teacher sends him to the office, he returns, nothing has happened. For a moment, the other aide and I are taken aback. I looked at her and was like, "Did he say 'gun' at first or 'toy gun?'" She thought he said toy so we left it at that....
The day went otherwise smoothly until just after sixth hour. I was leaving the room where I eat lunch and Ryan dumps his lesson off on me and says, "I need you to teach for me." I look at him completely puzzled.
"Why?"
"I will tell you later."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, but the police are here and I gotta go. Will you teach for me?"
So I walk down to his seventh hour classroom where the kids are all talk. I'm freaking out because I have to somehow teach a lesson on the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and I don't remember a thing and because of the mention of police. One of the kids in his class (who is usually a problem) says to me, "Hey, if a kid had a gun in school, would you tell on him?"
My response, "YES!"
"Well, it isn't fair Trouble is getting expelled."
I still didn't think anything of it. I taught part of the lesson and then Ryan came back. He was a little shaken up but he said he would talk to me later. I went back to my seventh hour and thought nothing of it again...
The bell rang between seventh and eighth hour and I went down to Ryan's eighth hour class to find out what was wrong. When he gets a minute, he explains to me that Trouble had a gun as school today. I told him that first hour, Annoying told me that his friend (these two are KNOWN friends but I didn't know who he was referring to first hour) had a TOY gun in school. Ryan looked at me, serious as shit, and was like, "I saw it, it wasn't a toy."
As I am about to leave his room and head back to my eighth hour, a resource teacher and another aide are in the hallway telling us to get into our classrooms and that no one was allowed to leave. I'm thinking, "Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit." So I carry on helping Torrie's students like nothing had happened. When Ryan sat down, I started talking to him and he told me the reason I couldn't leave is because the police were doing locker searches and that there were dogs also searching the school. I was okay to go at that point in time and, as I walked to my eighth hour, I ran into another teacher who told me to "Leave the education field while I still can."
At the end of the day, announcements came on, per usual, but there was one specific announcement: "Teachers and staff, there is a mandatory meeting after school in the small gym. Everyone MUST go. It will be short." Then, the announcements ask my eighth hour teacher if he can do bus duty. That teacher asks me to go to the office and get a walkie-talkie. On the way there, I run into annoying.
"Tell me the truth, did you know that was a real gun when I talked to you first hour?"
"No, I thought it was a toy but then I realized Trouble stole my dad's gun."
Something seems fishy about that one.....
Anyway, in our meeting, we were told that Trouble brought a starter pistol to school and that, although it was unloaded and could only shoot blanks, it is still a gun. During Trouble's fourth hour, the students were working on more ISAT practice. His teacher was working with a group and he took out this gun and pointed it at her back. Other children saw but were afraid to tell on him. During study hall (which Ryan is in charge of and that is why he had to go to the office and I had to sub his class), a group of students approached Ryan and told him what happened.
Imagine if that was a real gun. This kid walked around for almost the entire day with it in his pocket. Scary shit. And I don't work in the inner city of Chicago. I work in a predominantly white, affluent area. This just goes to show you that this shit can happen anytime, anywhere....