{"id":298,"date":"2018-03-22T09:32:32","date_gmt":"2018-03-22T17:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/character\/?p=298"},"modified":"2018-03-22T10:24:46","modified_gmt":"2018-03-22T18:24:46","slug":"after-parkland-why-and-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/character\/blog\/2018\/03\/22\/after-parkland-why-and-what\/","title":{"rendered":"AFTER PARKLAND: Why and What?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MARCH BLOG\u20142018<\/p>\n

In August 2015, I wrote a blog titled \u201cBad News (for) Boys\u201d in which I reported on boys\u2019 academic achievement, and particularly their difficulties in reading proficiency. I quoted columnist Michael Kimmel:<\/p>\n

\u201cBoys’ underachievement is driven by masculinity \u2013 that is, what boys think it means to be a man is often at odds with succeeding in school. Stated most simply, many boys regard academic disengagement as a sign of their masculinity.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The mass shooting at MS Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida has raised an array of questions and opinions about this tragedy. While my major intent in this blog is to provide you with some instructional resources, I feel I need to offer you the context (the \u201cwhy\u201d) before addressing the \u201cwhat\u201d to do in your classroom.<\/p>\n

Four quotes provide background for teachers, parents, and students in P-12 schools.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cMS Douglas High School was the nation’s deadliest school shooting since a gunman attacked an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, more than five years ago. The overall death toll differs by how such shootings are defined, but Everytown For Gun Safety has tallied 290 school shootings in America since 2013, and this attack makes 18 so far this year.\u201d AP, 2\/14\/2018<\/p>\n

\u201cI challenge you: Put on a ‘boy perspective’ and take a hard look at your school \u2013 from the curriculum, to the d\u00e9cor, to the policies and procedures. What is turning boys off and tuning them out?\u201d -Peter DeWitt, the author of Writing the Playbook: A Practitioner’s Guide to Creating a Boy-Friendly School<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201c…Men commit the vast majority of violent crimes in this country. Every\u00a0mass shooting we have seen in recent years has been a man….We don\u2019t\u00a0<\/span>need to arm teachers with guns. We need to arm teachers with new\u00a0<\/span>ways of talking about manhood.\u201d –\u00a0<\/span>Patrick O\u2019Connor, H.S. English Teacher, Education Week,\u00a0<\/span>February 22, 2018<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhat do these shootings have in common? Guns, yes. But also, boys. Girls aren\u2019t pulling the triggers. It\u2019s boys. It\u2019s almost always boys. America\u2019s boys are broken. And it\u2019s killing us. The brokenness of the country\u2019s boys stands in contrast to its girls, who still face an abundance of obstacles but go into the world increasingly well equipped to take them on.\u201d – \u201cThe Boys Are Not All Right,\u201d Michael Ian Black, NYT<\/p>\n

Resources For You (the \u201cWhat\u201d – and How)
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\nCall for Action to Prevent Gun Violence in the United States<\/em>
\nInterdisciplinary Group on Preventing School and Community Violence, February 28, 2018
\nhttps:\/\/curry.virginia.edu\/prevent-gun-violence<\/a><\/p>\n

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Student Activism and Gun Control: How school leaders can respond\u2014by listening, helping to empower, and affirming students\u2019 rights<\/em>
\nLeah Shafer, Usable Knowledge, February 25, 2018<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Emma Gonzalez Leads a Student Outcry on Guns: This Is the Way I Have to Grieve<\/em> https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/02\/18\/us\/emma-gonzalez-florida-shooting.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Resiliency After Violence, Usable Knowledge: Connecting Research to Practice, Harvard Graduate School of Education\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n