As a child in school, I remember doing air raid drills when I was in elementary school but they faded away. We crawled under our desks and covered our heads but never really understood why we did the drill. Do our children understand why we have to do active shooter drills?

This week I was connecting with a friend and former colleague, discussing the struggles within one of the local school districts. This is a large urban district that was struggling prior to the pandemic and now is barely keeping its head above water. And at what cost?

We can’t assume we know what each one of our students encounters on a daily basis. For example, we know through statistics and observation that some students may not have access to food at home.

Even the students who are very attentive and respond promptly with every request may be responding this way as a learned response from trauma. You may be very pleased with these types of students but you may not be aware of the anxiety or fear they are harboring based on a traumatic experience in their life. This child could be conditioned to make the adults around them happy because they may live with an alcoholic parent who becomes verbally and/or physically aggressive when they don’t comply.

Let’s commit to meeting our students where they are and not where we think they should be. We have to remember that not all children come to us with the same foundation and many will have significant gaps as a result of COVID-19 or were already experiencing significant gaps before the pandemic.

“Do I even have a choice?” This is the question I’m being asked most often now when it comes to what our children are being offered in school. The perception is that things are being done to parents, not with us or for us. What adds to the stress and anxiety is not being able to see around the corner at what’s next.