I wrote the following note on Sunday. I have, as you know, resisted writing to the community after every act of violence, after every act of bigotry, after every un-natural disaster. For a number of reasons it seems to be time to wade into this conversation as a community.
Written May 7, 2023
Dear LREI Community,
Another week goes by, the weather more spring-like, another week closer to commencement, and another week filled with violence – mass shootings, incidents where violence is used to “protect” oneself from perceived threats, and another week with segments of society ignoring the intersection of this violence and ongoing, systemic racism, and another week with little being offered by way of leadership, governance, or solutions. All so scary, and so complicated.
I read this morning that a school district in Michigan will ban backpacks to make schools safer. Malls are limiting teens’ ability to gather in order to make the malls safer. Calls for more people to be armed continue with little evidence of the effectiveness of “good guys with guns.” Maybe we should ban driveways to stop the shooting of those who get lost and want to turn around. Maybe if there were no doorbells then Black teens who go to the wrong address will live to pick up their younger siblings for another day.
As the sense of futility grows, I think of our eleventh graders who traveled to Colorado Springs to get closer to the issues surrounding gun violence, moving outside of their comfort zones, and the connections they made with a generous group of citizens who helped our students get closer to other points of view. I think about their eighth grade schoolmates who, when researching the same topic, connected with former LREI mom Donna Dees, who has dedicated herself to ending gun violence, often working with Moms Demand Action. I think about the eighth graders’ presentation to their parents when one member shared that every day they had to change their presentation because the number of mass shootings in the U.S. increases every day. I also think about groups of LREI students who spent significant time this year researching the issues of homelessness, mental health, and mass incarceration, among others, all engaging with intractable problems with the single most important tool one can employ, hope.
Not hope uncoupled from action, but hope leading to action or hope stemming from collective action. Maybe, as we have seen with other significant issues, as more and more people have a personal experience with gun violence, more of us will demand change. It will be terrible if this is what it takes, but it may be the only way for some to prioritize the lives of others.
If hope is an essential tool, are there others? Common sense, for sure, which tells us that we have yet to demonstrate that gun violence will be stopped by the presence of more guns. Nor will it end by asking teens to carry their books and belongings in their pockets. Compassion, planning, commitment, and sufficient resources are all on this list as well. For good measure, let’s throw in courage – political and otherwise. What might this courage bring us? If there are fewer guns and a higher bar to gun ownership, maybe there will be fewer shootings. If people have homes and food, they won’t have to live on the subway. And if we look for ways to find and express compassion then maybe we won’t look to violence to create safety. While we might not answer our doors if we are scared, maybe we won’t shoot first and ask, “Who’s there” after. We might move to another subway car if someone’s behavior makes us uncomfortable, agreeing that the punishment for “causing” discomfort should not be death.
I am so grateful that our students, joining many, many others, remain hopeful, compassionate, and active, and that those who are driven to have joined larger movements. I hope they stay involved and that as they move into adulthood they will take the reins from our current moribund leadership. In school, we will continue to provide opportunities to discuss the issues, to learn, to make choices, and to jump in as the students are inspired to do so.
What to do now? Until the time when we as a people have regained our humanity, rekindled our trust in each other, have learned to make the assumption of good intentions, please speak with your children about how to keep themselves safe in the variety of circumstances in which they find themselves – move to another subway car, offer help when it seems safe, don’t ring doorbells if you don’t know who is on the other side, know where you are going and have conversations as a family before your teenage and young adult children head out to unfamiliar places on their own. Balance these moments by joining displays of hope and compassion – a protest, a rally, donating money or time, and by sharing with our children our belief that there has to be, there just must be, a better way.
Peace and hope,
