Judy: If congress and the
president approve a bipartisan
agreement on guns and school
safety, it would provide new
resources to try to prevent
shootings like the massacre in
uvalde.
That would likely mean new money
for mental health care, violence
prevention and more training for
educators.
Many educators want to see more
action.
Stephanie sy picks up the
conversation from there.
>> Judy, teachers from around
the country told our team of
producers they have long been
frustrated with the larger
public response to shootings and
school safety.
And many have been particularly
angry about the way this has
played out in Washington and
state capitals.
Tragically, the shooting in
uvalde reinforced and
exacerbated many of these
concerns.
>> I have been teaching for 24
years.
I never had such a stressful
time teaching as I have now.
>> In the area of school
shootings, every day is a
nervous wreck sometimes.
>> Prior to the shooting at my
school, it was always this
looming thing that happened in
other places.
And then once it happened to us,
now we are part of this terrible
club of gun violence survivors
immediately after we returned,
after the shooting here, I still
felt safe.
I did not sign up to have all of
these responsibilities put upon
me outside of what I am
contractually obligated to do.
>> A term I have been using a
lot to describe how I am feeling
and people who work in schools
and students across America, we
are all feeling like we are
sitting ducks.
To the person who tells me you
just need training and this is
all you need to know, the amount
of ammunition you can get, the
power of the weapons that we
have, it happens so fast.
Prior to surviving a school
shooting, I watched on the news,
I knew they happened
occasionally but never really
had this impending sense that it
was going to happen to me.
>> Never once did I think I
would have to take safety
measures and learn how to pack a
wound that is bleeding too much.
I will have to learn how to turn
my desk into an anchor to
prevent someone from going in.
This was something that was
never explained to any of the
educators coming out during my
era.
>> They are very scary to do but
--
>> I am with high school kids
and the last time we had one,
the people who were checking the
doors had a flashlight.
We were in my room in this back
room and we could see the
flashlight shining through the
shades.
Several kids just burst out in
tears and I felt like crying.
>> We certainly shouldn't have
them endure active simulations
that mimic real trauma and
death.
>> I am so angry that I know how
to have conversations with young
people about school students.
>> I can't help but see the good
in people and everyone of my
kids, I see the good in them and
I am being asked now to not do
that, to look for the red flags.
To see them as potential enemies
that goes against everything I
am as a teacher.
>> That would be the day that I
retired from teaching.
>> If the shooter got into my
room that day, I don't have a
gun but if I did, I would not
have been able to access it.
>> I would feel better repaired
if I felt that society cared
more about teachers than they do
right now.
>> I felt so much hatred toward
teachers that I have not felt.
Even last year, nothing like
this.
>> The teachers are not ok.
They need an incredible amount
of care and support.
They cannot be told they need to
suck it up and move on.
>> I can tell you that 20 years
as an educator is hard.