Teaching can literally kill you but it doesn’t have to.

How to control your fear and reduce your anxiety in a crazy, crazy world.

February 14th started off as a regular day. Valentines greetings were exchanged and all was well in the world until a former student pulled a fire alarm and needlessly took the lives of 17 people. Some were students. Some were teachers. They all planned to return home and sleep in the same bed that night but they didn’t and it’s caused a lot of angst for anyone who works in or attends a public school in America. The sad truth is that this has happened too many times this year and it doesn’t have to.
As a teacher, you’re expected to know all the answers. You’re supposed to be calm and collected in difficult times but of course, you know that’s not true. What happened last week has hit a nerve that has left teachers feeling anxious and secretly wondering if their school will be the site of the next mass shooting. I too have felt those fears during my entire tenure as a teacher. The Columbine tragedy happened while I was student teaching and there have been 50 mass shootings or attempted shootings since then and 141 people have lost their lives. That’s far too many. My intention is to help you feel safer and calmer because to do anything else keeps you from enjoying your life and what you can control at this very minute. By constantly dwelling on what happened in the past prevents us from enjoying what is happening now in this present moment.

Here are five easy things you can do to calm your anxiety and feel safer at work.

Get to know your students.

Building solid relationships with your students is crucial. The most important reason is that kids don’t learn from teachers they hate. I wrote about this in last week’s blog. You want to be the teacher students trust because if they know you have their best interests at heart they will tell you everything that’s happening in the school community. I once won a bet with my principal that I could find the names of the kids who vandalized the boy’s bathroom. He laughed at the thought that I could find the bad guys before his security team could. I told him there were students who knew who did this and I was sure that one of my students could help us. For the rest of the day, I told my students about the bet and before the end of the day I gave the Principal the names of the students who had vandalized the bathroom. The case was solved in record time and I gave the free lunch I won from the bet to the student who provided the information. This worked because my students trusted me and I believed the information I was given was accurate. If I didn’t believe it to be true I wouldn’t have passed it along to the Principal. Trust is a two-way street and you have to give it to get it.

Tune into what your students are talking about.

The moment I heard about the Florida shooting I knew two things: Someone other than the shooter knew about his intentions and it was probably shared somewhere on social media. What I didn’t know is that he shared his plans in a YouTube video and someone made an anonymous tip to the FBI.
After every major school shooting, I would talk to my students about school violence and explain how important it was for them to share any information or suspicions they may have about anyone planning to commit a harmful act in our school community. I’d explain how we are all responsible for a safe and secure school and that they are our eyes and ears because they’re constantly on social media. They hear conversations we aren’t privy to in the hall, on the school bus, and in the cafeteria. They know more about what’s happening in and out of school than we could ever know and they have an obligation to share that information with school and law enforcement officials. Some would say they’re not a snitch and I asked if they’d like someone to share information if they saw a family member hurt or killed. Most said they would.

Pay attention to your instincts.

As mandated reporters, you know to pass along information if a student is showing signs of mentally illness, depression or suicidal thoughts. It’s the same if you think or feel a student may hurt themselves or anyone else. A few years ago a student reported seeing a classmate on social media brandishing a gun on a school bus. A few hours later a dozen or more state police had descended on the school which resulted in a four-hour lockdown. We thought it was a drill for the first five minutes. Then a state of panic filled my classroom as students wondered aloud if this was a real event. Luckily I had a co-teacher to help quell their fears. Soon parents started calling their kids and we found out why we were still being held. A cryptic announcement helped us figure out we weren’t in any imminent danger and it was a BB gun they were looking for. We were told they’d have to search every student before we could leave. I estimated that would take an additional three hours. Luckily, another student had taken the gun home a few hours earlier and we were released an hour after our normal dismissal time. It was a scary incident and I’m grateful for the students who shared the video with school officials.

Worrying never solved anything.

Worrying about when it’s going to happen at your school and if you’re prepared is a waste of time. A teacher at the school in Florida said they had the requisite drills several times a year and that she still felt unprepared at the time because there are so many emotions and fears that keep you from thinking rationally during a crisis.

If you’re constantly trying to imagine how you would react in such a situation try focusing instead on how you’re okay at this very moment. All is well with you. All is well with your students right now at this very moment. You get to teach the lessons you’ve planned. Your students get to answer your questions. You get to laugh! You also get to enjoy interacting with them. Have you ever stopped and thought about how many of the things you worry about ever come true? If you answered no, you’re like most people. You worry and worry and then worry some more as if worrying will solve your problem. It doesn’t. What it does is raise your blood pressure and put you in a hyper state of awareness much like you’d be walking through a dark forest that’s populated with grizzly bears.  Being in this constant state of fight or flight for a long period of time can lead to a stroke or heart attack. Yes, this stuff can be really scary but if it isn’t happening at your school right now then you have nothing to worry about and you get to calm down.

Get active and get help.

There are lots of political groups you can join to help end the proliferation of gun violence in America. I’ve listed a few for you to check out. You can donate money to these causes and vow to vote for candidates who believe in stricter gun laws. Doing this can quell your worrying and give you something positive to focus on instead.

If your worry or anxiety persists it’s important that you seek some sort of professional help from a counselor or therapist. Talking to a trained professional is a gift you get to give yourself. This is especially important if you have a history of depression or other mental disorders.
It’s imperative that you find ways to process your fear and anxiety. It can be as simple as finding some sort of physical activity that allows you to break a sweat for at least 30 minutes a few times a week. This is good for both your physical and mental health.
Spending time with those you love be it a human or an animal is a quick way to calm down and stop worrying. It’s hard to wallow in feelings of doom and gloom when you’re cuddling your favorite pet or chasing your kid around the backyard.
The bottom line is that teaching can be emotionally draining especially if you spend your days and nights worrying about things that aren’t happening. But it doesn’t have to because you get to decide.

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