I was perusing social media when I came up on a video. I have to admit I don’t pay attention to everything the Texas State Legislature does. It would probably drive me crazy if I did. Well, I cannot ignore House Bill 1147. As someone that has been teaching for 25 years I definitely cannot ignore it. I’ll post the video, but I have to warn you, it will put you through the emotional ringer.

If you don’t think you can make it through the video, please allow me to summarize the situation. The bill would require all school campuses with students third grade and up to have at least one station where medical supplies would be readily available. Students as young as nine can be trained to essentially be combat medics. They would apply tourniquets, seal off chest cavities, and treat other severe bodily injuries.

I’m a grown ass man (sorry momma). When I signed up for this gig back in 1997 I knew what I was getting into. I listened to stories from my grandmother, parents, and older sister. Every day wasn’t going to be sunshine and rainbows. Some kids don’t want to learn or do what they need to do to earn the grade. Some kids aren’t the best behaved. More importantly, some adults aren’t as professional or dedicated as they should be.

I signed up for all of that. I didn’t sign up for this. I didn’t get trained to storm Normandy. I didn’t get trained to apply the kind of critical aid needed to keep someone alive long enough for an ambulance to get there. I certainly didn’t train to do that AND dodge bullets at the same time. Of course we have been trained to do rudimentary first aid and I’m sure kids can be taught the same. Maybe they cut themselves on the swing set or they get beaned with a ball during recess. Maybe someone falls down a flight of stairs or twists an ankle. This training is not about that.

As horrifying as this all is, it is the message behind it that is most horrifying. We know what is causing these events. We know how to stop it. Australia has done it. Most of the industrialized world has done it. The right doesn’t want to do it. I understand it on some level. Their base loves their guns. However, the different contortions we are going through to avoid addressing the issue is just beyond the pale. We don’t need kids to learn how to apply a tourniquet or stop their friends from bleeding out. We don’t need a damn tank in front of the school. We don’t need to reduce every school to one set of doors. We don’t need to issue every man, woman, and child a bullet proof vest. We just need to take the damn AR-15s. Period.