Teachers Are Reacting to the Florida Shooting — and Lawmakers Better Listen Up

Updated on Feb 19, 2018 at 3:30 PM

Even though we're not even two months into 2018, there have already been 18 school shootings this year, and the latest tragedy that took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, has claimed the lives of 17 people so far. While politicians are still spinning their wheels on the topic of gun control, teachers are taking to Twitter to speak out about how they're affected by gun violence. As you can imagine, their responses are just as devastating as they are terrifying:

A #Parkland elementary school teacher I've been talking with tells me "What if that had been my school? Teachers died. I don't know if I can do this job anymore. [What if] I can't keep them all safe? What then? The terrible things those teachers must have gone through." #Florida

— James LaPorta (@JimLaPorta) February 15, 2018

Check in on your teacher friends today. They are asked to do these drills and are tasked with caring for kids. They're as unsure as anybody about what to expect at school today.

They're gonna show up, tho.

So make sure you see how they're doing today.

— Kelly Wickham Hurst (@mochamomma) February 15, 2018

I was told in our school's active shooter trianing that I can choose to hide the kids or fight back, whatever we deemed was the best possibility for SURVIVAL

— Pernille Ripp (@pernilleripp) February 15, 2018

I carry a compact glass-breaker on my lanyard. That way my class can exit through a window if we need our own personal escape route.

— Jennifer Leung (@jleung10) February 15, 2018

I remember spending sleepless hours imagining how to block the door with tables and bookcases after Sandy Hook. Now I spend those sleepless hours wondering if my kindergartener will know what to do and how to follow directions.

— Emily VanNoy Arico (@VanArico) February 15, 2018

I've thought about weapons, I've thought about escape plans, I've thought about who might be disturbed enough to come in...I want to be thinking about reading books and writing stories with innocent and eager kiddos.

— Paula Bourque 📚✍️ (@LitCoachLady) February 15, 2018

I have ... and have thought about bringing in wasp spray so that I can blind anyone who tried to come through the door. I've thought through how many kids I can hide in my cabinets - what tables I can use to barricade. Why the hell is this even something we have to think about??

— MaryAnna Fox (@mountainsun16) February 15, 2018

And teachers with classrooms full of children with special needs? What about them?

As a special education teacher, I live every day with the reality that I may need to take a bullet to protect my students. And I run scenarios through my mind every single day to make sure I'm ready should the time come to react quickly so my students stay alive.

— Karla Akins (@KarlaAkins) February 15, 2018

Seriously, even educators who are progun agree that something needs to change in the US:

I'm not anti-gun, I appreciate that we can own them, but for the love of God, something has to change in this country. Something has to change. I am a teacher and I have kids, it's my worst nightmare that this could happen to us .... something has to change.

— Phily D, M.Ed (@PhilDailey) February 15, 2018