National Walkout Day March 14 at 10am

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Just a reminder to those who have high schools. Tomorrow is National Walkout Day for high schools to protest gun violence. I am all for students voicing their opinions on such a strong issue. What are your thoughts?

Specializes in School nursing.

My school had a plan to allow students to leave the building and observe the 17 minutes of silence if they wished just outside the building. If they choose to walk out after that, we would not stop them but if would be an unexcused absence. We were going to allow parents to dismiss their children if they wished. But if a student did walk out without advance parental permission, we were planning on calling home for safety to report the student left the building.

Now, we had a snow day instead.

So a small group of students since went to the state house.

In the dust of all this and dealing with security issues that have been happening at schools everywhere, I have heard some terrible things said. But I have also had more than just a few students truly impress me with their research, thoughtfulness, empathy. And that will always give me hope.

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Specializes in NCSN.
Bullying and Suicide - Bullying Statistics

I became interested in bullying/suicide statistics after the school shootings. I had suspected that school shootings were somehow connected to the kid having been bullied, or feeling like an outcast, etc... either way, shooting someone is a disastrous way to cope. I do believe there is some correlation and I hope that it is being addressed along with the protests for gun control. Gun control will make it that so when a kid goes off the deep end, he can't manage to kill 17 kids. Is that really the best we can do? Granted, it's a start. But, according to the above article 4,400 individuals/yr die by suicide because of bullying. That's a great deal more than 17. I don't understand why this isn't equally, if not more important to protest. I would love to see the children being encouraged to walk out in protest to bullying, nationwide. This is a problem across all age groups, no one can say, "they're too young." I asked my granddaughter if she participated in the walk out, she had no clue what I was talking about. She's 10 and been bullied in the past. This alone will not fix the problem. Bully begins mostly in school...

I agree with you all the way until the last 5 words. Bullying doesn't begin in school, it starts at home. I was bullied pretty badly growing up, to the point where my mom would come to the school weekly to talk with admins. Then she started going after the parents of the students who were bullying me, and you know what, they didn't care. "kids will be kids" "kids are just mean", "he would NEVER do that your daughter is lying".

Here at school I see it frequently. A student reports being bullied, one of our admin team talks with both students and EVERY TIME a call home to BOTH student's parents is made. And nothing changes. For repeat offenders, we have consequences in school, like no recess for a week, lunch in the office, isolated seating in class, with another letter and phone call to the parent for each incident. Parent of bully still doesn't care. We involve counselors, have team meetings, create more structure, more consequences like in school suspension, out of school suspension, we have even changed classrooms. Still NO CHANGE or care from the parents of the bully.

Then the bully gets physical. And suddenly the parent's of the bully says it is all the schools fault for not "properly disciplining" their child. WHERE IS THE FOLLOW THROUGH AT HOME?!

My staff pours in everything they have into our students, especially our more violently prone ones. They are kicked, bitten, threatened, punched and screamed at daily. There is an increasing number of students with emotional disturbances and diagnosis in the classroom and not enough trained staff to handle them. I constantly am being called down to our restraining room to check on both the student and staff. Kids are being dragged down the hallways screaming in schools across the nation. Things like "Trauma informed care" and training is becoming a part of new hire training for teachers.

But I'm tangenting a bit. My main point is that parents need to be accountable for their children. We can only do so much in a school, we can't enforce rules and responsibilities at home.

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Twice a year. And its a full class. We also have youth mentor hunts. Its hard to grow up here and not know about gun safety.

That's a very good thing! I am sure some of the very saddest cases we've all seen are children accidentally shot by either themselves, other children, siblings, and/or even parents and grandparents. It kills them all in a way at the same time. Usually just cleaning the guns or leaving them laying around loaded! They go off accidentally and hit other living things. I'm not sure how much experience or training they had or if it would make any difference but it sure could not hurt if you're going to be around them regardless. Yes, I'm sure there are hunting accidents too, and lots prevented by this class.

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Specializes in kids.

This spoke volumes to me. I wasn't able to find the image now but on the news they showed an image of a pair of the little girl's sneakers with braces in them with a handwritten note attached saying, "Not all children can run." :cry::nono::mad: Not one more! :no:

:cry::cry:
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Specializes in PACU, pre/postoperative, ortho.
Do your rural schools teach gun safety for hunters?

Not the schools here, but the state requires completion of a 2-3 day safety course for minors in order to get hunting permits.

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The point is there are children who feel the need to kill others. The guns have ALWAYS been there, the desire has not. It is really easy to point at inanimate objects as the causative agent, but guess what, there are three more fingers pointing straight back at you when you do that. Parenting since the 60's has focused on indulgence and selfishness, this is the natural progression of human nature. I have said numerous times that not everything from the past was positive, but we threw out the good with the bad. We seem so socially aware now while harboring such hate for each other. That dichotomy is playing out in our schools. Bullying, once "harmless", has become deadly, and that is but one example. Society caused this and governments are reactionary to society, they never lead it, and yet they look to them as some sort of parental figure. Nothing short of a total reworking of societal mores will protect our children. Are you willing to change the channel, block your internet or limit your entertainment to help this change? I know I will, our future is too important.

Where are you getting this information that so much has changed since the sixties and before? There have always, always, always been good and bad parents.

When was bullying harmless? Maybe it was not considered terrible in previous generations to pick on someone with dark skin or a mental handicap. But whether or not it was considered terrible... It was still terrible.

Guns (the way we see/have them now) have NOT always been a part of that. The ease of accessibility (legally and illegally) is disgusting.

Why won't you recognize the statistics from nations with strong gun control laws show that the laws work?

Yes, I am willing to turn off the television. I am also wise enough to know that my kids WILL be exposed to some things whether or not I have/allow them in my home. I need to give them the proper foundation for when they are exposed to those things (at home or at school) and make sure they are not 18 at college and just finding out about the world. I need to make sure they know that there are people who have different beliefs (morally, religiously, politically) and that is OK. I will not tell them that their beliefs supersede another's (i.e. saying that as a nation, we need Christianity).

I also know that NOT ALL PARENTS will provide that for their kids for a plethora of reasons. But it seems that when schools/communities try to set up a system to reach those kids, they are called "soft" and compared to the hardier generations before them. For example, a kid who was born into a poor family in a gang heavy area may find a mentor in a teacher and when he is successful in life say "Hey, I never would have been who I am without this teacher! Bless him" and the world rallies... "We need more teachers like that! Kids need mentors!" But then when someone goes to set up a mentoring program, the same people say "Why do kids today need all that set up for them? Jeez, they can't do anything for themselves!" More hypocrisy.

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Specializes in OB.
I've posted my solution over and over and over...

Sorry, I guess I've missed it. Just trying to have a thoughtful dialogue.

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Specializes in NCSN.
Where are you getting this information that so much has changed since the sixties and before? There have always, always, always been good and bad parents.

When was bullying harmless? Maybe it was not considered terrible in previous generations to pick on someone with dark skin or a mental handicap. But whether or not it was considered terrible... It was still terrible.

Guns (the way we see/have them now) have NOT always been a part of that. The ease of accessibility (legally and illegally) is disgusting.

I agree there have always been good or bad parents, but in recent history american culture has moved more towards the needs of the individual and away from needs of the whole. That's why things like social service programs are being cut, because so many people think if it doesn't affect them, why have it? If something doesn't have a quick solution (or any solution), people no longer have the coping skills to handle those things because we live in a world with instant information and quick fixes. People used to say that it takes a village to raise a child, but with today's technology you can surround yourself with like minded individuals and enclose yourself in a bubble of people who only agree with you which makes everyone else seem wrong. And there is no real consequence for being a jerk on the internet, which makes it so much easier for people to say awful and hurtful things at a much higher rate than when they had to do it face to face.

Bullying is never harmless. Those of us here might be biased because we had the good parents who worked with the school and gave us consequences at home. Because of that, I am shocked by the number of parents I deal with that feel like they have no responsibility for their child's actions. It feels like it must be more prevalent now, but I might be wrong.

I'm not sure how the view of guns has changed. People for years have seen them as means of protection, for sport or for food. If anything it was easier years ago to get a gun compared to now in some states. I've posted before how I think common sense gun laws do need to happen across the board. But I don't believe removing all guns is the answer, not now at least.

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But I don't believe removing all guns is the answer, not now at least.

I have not seen one person/group ask for this. If anyone has, they are in the minuscule minority.

Also worth clarifying that while years ago it may have been easier to get a gun, those guns were not comparable to the guns that are available now. Times change, laws need to change with them. We regulate things that can be dangerous (vehicles, cold medicine) while guns (which only have violent purposes) need more regulation.

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You do realize that in many parts of the country, people use guns to hunt animals that they use for FOOD, right? If you can fill your freezer with meat at a fraction of the cost of buying it at a store, I think that is a pretty rational (and in some families, necessary) reason to own a gun.

Living in gun country, I can attest to the fact that it is very rarely the case that people are out there hunting due to a NEED to hunt to put food on their table. It is much more a cultural and social endeavor than it is an actual necessity. This is a need vs. want situation.

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This spoke volumes to me. I wasn't able to find the image now but on the news they showed an image of a pair of the little girl's sneakers with braces in them with a handwritten note attached saying, "Not all children can run." :cry::nono::mad: Not one more! :no:

And just think, this isn't even a total accounting of the number of children killed by gun violence because of the way child deaths by gun are or are not reported. According to the NIH many "accidental" deaths of children go unreported, and most are in homes in which the firearms are legal and presumably owned by a "responsible gun owner." An oxymoron, to be sure. There's no standardized mandate to report gun killings of minors, and are in fact dramatically underreported. There are many more pairs of shoes that could have been laid there.

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Specializes in Home Health,Dialysis, MDS, School Nurse.
presumably owned by a "responsible gun owner." An oxymoron, to be sure.

Are you seriously stating that there are no responsible gun owners?

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