Today I was at work (I work as a substitute teacher in a local middle school) and a student came up to me with a question. She had just read about a shooting not far from her home and she saw a video about the terrorist attack in Egypt.
Student: Ms. A...Will things ever get better? It seems like every day someone is being killed over something stupid or someone is attacking a group of people. I mean, come on. Why is it like this?
After the student asked the questions, I had to take a moment to think about the complexity of what she was asking. I don't know exactly when violence in the world will end, but I can only hope it will eventually. This is what I needed to tell the student. It is important that I am honest but positive with my answer.
Ms. A: (sigh) Honestly, I don't know when it will end. All through history there have been moments of violence in the world. All we can do is hope that one day it will end. Until that time we need to do our best to be a positive example of what the world should be like. Rather than be hateful and violence, we should be kind to others. If we see hatred, we should stand against it.
This conversation was awkward, I won't lie, but my student was looking to me for reassurance. As teachers we need to be that positive figure in our students lives. They should know that they can come to us with their questions and concerns and that we will do our best to answer them.
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