I was at the gym, minding my own business, trying to ignore the animated newscasters who finally had something to report that didn’t begin with T and end with Rump, when, despite my best efforts, a headline caught my eye… something about the issue of gun control being reopened due to the latest school shooting. Guns or Guidance Counselors? That is the question.
Seriously? Raise your hand if you think gun control would have solved the anguish experienced by these teenage shooters. Wouldn’t they have just found another way to lash back?
On behalf of every Awesome Mom who has stood helplessly by as her children hide their tears and anger behind closed bedroom doors, generated by school events,
Can anyone explain to me why the issue of school funding isn’t being reopened in the face of this tragedy?
“The American School Counselor Association recommends a student-to-student counselor ratio of 250:1.” That means your child is vying for counselor time amongst 249 other kids… if you live in one of the 3 states that meet this criteria. “The national average is 491:1, while in California and Arizona, it’s 822:1 and 941:1, respectively. In far too many schools, security officers outnumber school counselors.”
And they think guns are the problem?
If the politicians sank the money they are going to spend on gun control ads into the schools, or diverted the $1.7 billion spent on standardized testing, they could
- hire more counselors and teachers
- lower the student-to-student-counselor ratio, and
- drop the student-to-teacher ratio.
There would be more adults focusing on smaller groups of students. With the less visible children coming more into focus, don’t you think these tragedies could be deterred? So, I ask you, what would be the best deterrent of violence, Guns or Guidance Counselors?
Please join me in sending love and prayers to the families of this unfortunate community, and to the families affected by previous school shootings who must be reliving those horrible days.
