A MOTHER'S RECKONINGLIVING IN THE AFTERMATH OF TRAGEDY
By Sue Klebold, 2016, Broadway Books, New York
WHY MEADOW DIED THE PEOPLE AND POLICIES THAT CREATED THE PARKLAND SHOOTER AND ENDANGER AMERICA'S STUDENTS
By Andrew Pollack and Max Eden, Simon and Schuster, 2020
As nurses, we respond to school shootings in multiple ways. As parents, we thank God it wasn't our children. We are heartsick for the parents whose children were shot. As nurses, we may be the ones triaging or caregivers to those who are victims of these traumas. As residents of towns who have experienced this tragedy, we attend funerals or offer prayers. As citizens, we know this must stop, must be stopped, and we go to the ballot box to vote for those we think have the answers.
THESE TWO BOOKS COULD NOT BE MORE DIFFERENT
Author Sue Klebold is the mother of Dylan Klebold, the boy who shot and killed his classmates and teachers in 1999 at Columbine High School and then killed himself. Author Andrew Pollack is the father of Meadow Pollack, a child who was killed at the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018. Klebold tries to make sense of being completely and absolutely blindsided by her loving son's actions and the secrets revealed after his death. Pollack dismantles the PROMISE program adopted nationally by school systems and condemns these rules established to forbid police action in schools. Pollack reports on the seemingly correct attempt to stop school-to-jail trajectories and describes the resulting lack of discipline as the absolute reason for these shootings. Klebold says her son had never shown signs of violence or mental illness and that their family was intact and happy. Pollack reveals the life story of the Stoneman Douglas shooter, citing a home of unrest, an ongoing pattern of uncorrected school violence, mental disabilities, and previously being reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
THESE TWO BOOKS COULD NOT BE MORE ALIKE
Both parents are heartsick. Both parents try to reconcile with the tragedies that occurred. Both parents lost their marriages as a result of their obsessions with investigating, describing, and making the truth public. Both parents stand up to us and say, "This must not happen again." Both parents are people you want to hug and say, "How I wish this were not so." Both books are very hard, induce tears, and are riveting on examination.
THESE TWO BOOKS ARE MUST-READS FOR NURSES WHO WANT TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT WE CAN DO TO PREVENT VIOLENCE
As providers of pediatric services, we must help to look closely at the children in our care. Who needs more help? Who seems unhappy? Whose family is not there for them? Who needs referral? How can we help? What questions should we ask? What more can we do?
In looking for materials on this topic, a scholar friend directed me to an article published in Reader's Digest: "One Teacher's Brilliant Strategy to Stop School Shootings." Originally written in her blog by Glennon Doyle Melton, Melton tells the story of a teacher's strategy to stop bullying and build self-esteem in the classroom. Klebold tells us her son was bullied. Pollack would replace the discipline reform policy with identification of required help, from school and criminal justice, for children who bully. Read Melton's article and make a copy for any teacher you know. It will be worth it (https://www.rd.com/advice/parenting/stop-bullying-strategy/).
It is possible that one child redirected can be a school saved.