A ray of hope

[TeacherSmurf]

A student came to me today, to talk about a discussion she took part in during her College English class. She is the youngest student in the course, and therefore is very intimidated and rarely speaks up. The topic was about "gun control." This is a small, rural town and I know the English teacher has guns in her house.

This student said that most of the other kids were in favor of more gun control and basically parroting what they hear on T.V. She said she then asked why it was necessary when gun violence/deaths have actually decreased. They responded with the standard answers of keeping people safe and bring up UCC. Keep in mind, that is close to home with students and staff losing family in the shooting. Both she and another student basically responded with "you shouldn't be talking about making laws based on your emotions. You need to look at facts. What you are talking about is taking away the guns of people who haven't done anything wrong? I don't think it is right to make decisions on guns and gun laws when I don't really know much about them and I don't think you should either." She left feeling misunderstood and that she came off as callus.

A few periods later, when she knew I could talk, she came to me to tell me about the discussion and to ask about guns and gun laws. I was able to talk to her "assault rifles" and what she thought they were and why people "need" them. We talked about raising the long gun age to 21. I also cleared up what "gun people" meant by letting teacher's carry on school grounds, and what a difficult decision that would be for teachers. She left feeling validated and I sent her research, that I learned about on this site, to read, since this will probably lead to a paper.

Now the kicker... her mother hates guns. To the point that this student will not tell her mom that I have them in the house (even though they are locked up) because it would mean that she would not be able to come over to babysit the kids or help me clean. She has been taught from childhood that guns are bad and scary, yet today she spoke up to defend our right to carry with a class full of upperclassmen that intimidate her.

I'm one proud teacher today!

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[Andy54Hawken]

Nice to hear of a student that was taught to think and not afraid to do so.
I am glad she had you to confide in and discuss ideas with.
Andy

 

[41mag]

my GAWD!!!!! a student being taught HOW to think, not WHAT to think????

...and I know for sure there is more than one example out there.....I got grand kids....

 

[Colts4me]

Mmmm mm might want to start bottling the water around your area and sell it as brain fertilizer. New growth in a flower is rare now days. Of course the real credit goes to folks like you OP but you may as well make a buck too.

 

[TeacherSmurf]

Nice to hear of a student that was taught to think and not afraid to do so.
I am glad she had you to confide in and discuss ideas with.
Andy

Mmmm mm might want to start bottling the water around your area and sell it as brain fertilizer. New growth in a flower is rare now days. Of course the real credit goes to folks like you OP but you may as well make a buck too.

my GAWD!!!!! a student being taught HOW to think, not WHAT to think????

...and I know for sure there is more than one example out there.....I got grand kids....

She is truly one of those students that you hope will get the chance to live up to their full potential.

 

[CountryGent]

This reinforces my belief that there are good teachers out there. You are most certainly among their ranks, in my estimation. And I'm pretty sure I know the student of whom you speak. That young lady is quite gifted and will likely go far.

 

[warnerwh]

She should be commended for being objective as well as doing it in an environment she knew she would be ridiculed. That girl is not only intelligent but a capable kind of person who should do well in life. I'm very impressed that considering the environment she grew up in that she is thinking for herself and not letting emotions enter the picture. You should take a .22 rifle and take her to a place to shoot some reactive targets.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Good on ya, you are an awesome mentor and an asset to the cause.

 

[AirResq]

Bless ya TeacherSmurf! I wish we had more like you in our schools.

 

[TeacherSmurf]

You should take a .22 rifle and take her to a place to shoot some reactive targets.

LOL, That was actually how I found out how much her mother hates guns. A few weeks ago I suggested we go shooting so she could relax and she said no, and told me about her mother.

 

[TeacherSmurf]

Good on ya, you are an awesome mentor and an asset to the cause.

Bless ya TeacherSmurf! I wish we had more like you in our schools.

Thank you, but I am just so proud of her that I had to share I also wanted to thank you all, as I shared with her research information I first saw here.

 

[11Charlie]

I give you and Andy all the credit in the world. A+ young lady! Because of you and teachers like you we have a hope and a prayer in this world.

And Thank you for sharing something positive, it sure is nice to see. You made my morning!

 

[Flopsweat]

She is truly one of those students that you hope will get the chance to live up to their full potential.

I had a teacher in high school who's focus was exactly this. I remember noticing that she asked a lot of questions, but not in a superior sort of way. I could tell she was teaching me how to think, and I liked it. I'm very lucky to have passed her way. What you just said here reminded me of her.

 

[EPS]

I just think it's funny that all these people are saying stuff and speaking for the teachers I would like to hear from the teachers .but most will not speak up because of fear of the repercussions .we have a few TEACHERS on here probably more that don't say what they do for work

 

[EPS]

ANACORTES schools are great but they do have a problem they think nothing will ever happen .the new high school has multiple doors the Jr high same thing the Jr high is right across the street from the police station and one of the elementary schools is right behind it so they have this sense of security that is not there .lol what do they think the cops just sit at the station waiting for a call

 

[GOG]

This is great stuff. But a word of caution for the young lady: It's not very safe to espouse anything other than the party line. Academia can be very harsh since it's a petri dish of the hard left.
Please caution her to be careful.

How messed up is society that I had to think about that?

 

[EPS]

This is great stuff. But a word of caution for the young lady: It's not very safe to espouse anything other than the party line. Academia can be very harsh since it's a petri dish of the hard left.
Please caution her to be careful.

How messed up is society that I had to think about that?

Like I said probably lots of teachers on these gun fourums but they can't say because of repercussions

 

[nammac]

Kudos to @TeacherSmurf for being approachable, knowledgeable and trusted by this young lady. Your impacting young lives in ways that even you may not realize today.

Keep up the good work!

 

[Mark W.]

LOL teachers in school interested in firearms. When I took industrial drafting in High school the Drafting teacher (ONLY THING HE TAUGHT CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT NOW DAYS?) spent the about 50 of the 55 minute class staring at a Map of central and eastern oregon trying to figure out where to go Antelope Hunting. This guy was so obsessed with hunting I learned more about hunting optics in that class then drafting.

Doc Miles the only teacher at my high school that actually had a Doctorates degree. His Antelope rifle of choice was a Fajen Stocked Rem 700 in 7mm Mag Leupold scope I forget the power. Saw it in class a couple times.

 

[TeacherSmurf]

This is great stuff. But a word of caution for the young lady: It's not very safe to espouse anything other than the party line. Academia can be very harsh since it's a petri dish of the hard left.
Please caution her to be careful.

How messed up is society that I had to think about that?

She is actually well aware of this as her mother is an elementary teacher and one of the other high school teachers rents a room from them. That was why I was so proud and excited. Her normal mode is to keep her opinions to herself and then seethe later.

Kudos also go to her English teacher as they discussed being respectful and listening to other opinions for several days before this.