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Talking About Tragedies at School

The other day in my Literacy of the Learner class, the teachers asked us if discussing tragedies in class would be appropriate. Should we talk about personal tragedies like loved ones passing away, or national tragedies like school shootings, or both?

My opinion is that we should talk about tragedies in schools because as soon as kids get out of school they will be exposed to this topic anyway. There is no point shielding kids from troubling news because they do have a life outside of school, and opinions you don't get to hear in classrooms. School is supposed to make students ready for "real life", and in "real life" we are free to discuss controversial topics and give our own opinion. Personally, I'm still not used to the freedom in I have in CSU. I can share my opinion without a teacher pulling me aside and asking me not to do that? I can discuss a controversial topic in a polite manner? What?! If I had been exposed to this type of behavior earlier, I wouldn't be so hesitant to speak during discussions. I'm sure new students in Universities and young kids in their jobs are experiencing what I am. 

Not to mention, some students in classrooms have already experienced personal loss, or are reading about losses on social media. Plenty of kids have lost loved ones, so it's not like they are just now being introduced to this topic. Plus, sometimes shielding kids from tragedies and hiding things become very similar. I remember in my old middle school, word got around that one of our classmates killed herself. By lunchtime the next day everyone knew about it. Some kids were already talking about setting up some kind of remembrance for her. But throughout that entire day, our teachers did not even touch on the topic. She was even in one of my classes, but the teacher carried on as if she was just absent. We waited for a whole week and nothing happened. Finally, the students were forced to speak out and ask teachers why they hadn't talked about this horrible tragedy, and the teachers told us they weren't allowed to talk about it. My point is, sometimes not talking about a tragedy--may it be a personal loss or a mass shooting--can be a bad thing. Students will think we as teachers don't want to discuss this important issue, or don't want to make them aware of it. 

And then there's the argument that some kids won't be able to take it. I understand we can't expect all students to be the same. But that doesn't mean we should ignore the issue altogether. Maybe before we talk about a tragedy we could inform our students that we are going to be discussing it because it's important. I would encourage students to stay in class and participate in the discussion (How can we recognize signs of depression? What is your opinion on how to stop school shootings? What do you think about gun control?) but if they feel too uncomfortable they are welcome to step out until we finish the discussion. This way, kids can feel like they are head. I really think it's important to get kids talking--especially about controversial topics--instead of ignoring those topics. Because we have tried that tactic before, and it's got us to a place where we can't even talk to someone who has a different opinion from us, much less discuss. Our future generation has to be better than that. 

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