Almost a School Shooter

Almost a School Shooter

One of the most current and controversial conversations in education right now, is that of school shootings. Common media topics revolving around school shootings include gun control, mental health, arming teachers, tougher security, and red flags. Just to name a few. Aaron Stark, who  is known for his TED Talk I Was Almost a School Shooter, commented on the debate of mental health and gun control. He said, “If I had possessed a rifle, I would have been a killer, but if I had known love, I would never have wanted a rifle.” An incredibly important statement on the power of love.

All aspects of this controversial conversation are important, but one aspect that has had more attention than in past years, is the emphasis on mental health. The concept being, if you can help these kids who are struggling with depression and anxiety, among other mental health issues, then you can prevent their final outlet of harming someone else. 

In Aaron Starks TED Talk he describes his moment of wanting to commit a mass shooting. The decision occurred in his darkest moment. He was homeless, a victim of abuse and bullying, and after turning himself into social services for cutting himself, his own mother told him next time she'd buy him the razor blade. What Aaron Stark endured was trauma. There have been multiple studies that prove abuse and trauma affect the brain. For Aaron, he wanted a way out of the pain. He was ready to be done, but first he needed an outlet, and his outlet would be to to hurt as many people as possible. 

So what stopped him? Friendship. Aaron had set up a deal to get a gun within three days, and in those three days Aaron said his friend, "Treated him like a person when he didn't feel like a human." Aaron describes his friend's actions as simple, but having a deep impact. To me, Aaron's message goes even beyond the discussion of gun control and mental health, but to a person's character. His friend's character.

The need for character education goes beyond classroom management and helping create citizens who are equipped for the workforce, it's about creating a society that learns to lift instead of break. A society that can disagree without resorting to violence. A society that can actively listen and work towards understanding and empathy. Aaron Stark stressed, "Love people who you feel least deserve it, because they need it the most." 

I'm not saying that we make education to where students never have to deal with adversity, but in a society where the media, including social media, allow children 24 hour access to hate filled topics and poor examples of how to handle disagreements and approaching differences, we need something in our society to counter balance this. Yet another heavy responsibility for teachers, but when has our job ever been easy?

I am not naive to the difficulties of incorporating another subject into my day. Time constraints is a real struggle. But, there are so many incredible programs, resources, books, videos, and much more, to help support teaching character education. Aaron's story is just one example of how powerful one person's act of kindness can be. We need to be sharing more stories like Aaron. We need to be teaching character education.Our students need it, our society needs it.