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President's Address

2/27/2018

4 Comments

 
MSLA President Carrie Tucker is the Librarian at East Bridgewater Jr/Sr High School ​
It was February 16, the Friday before vacation, and I had an ambitious to-do list to knock off before embracing nine glorious days of freedom. Freedom to read, freedom to sleep past 5 o’clock, freedom to enjoy my family and catch up with friends.

I was single minded in my drive to get it done. So when my independent study student, Alyssa, asked if I thought teachers should be armed, I did not miss a beat. The very idea of working with students in an armed or militarized environment horrifies me. My response went something like this: “I am against arming teachers. My opinion is one of many, I know, but a society that addresses its problems by adding more guns just saddens me.”

I left it at that and continued working. But since I got home, I have been bothered by the exchange. At the very least, my library science professors would say I conducted a crappy reference interview. Alyssa needed me to ask--
  • Do you think teachers should be armed?
  • Do you feel safe in our school?
  • What do your friends and classmates think?

She, like many of us, needed to process her thoughts in the wake of such violence. She needed the ear of an adult who would listen. She did not get that from me, and this has pricked my conscience all vacation, especially as I watch Parkland students find their voices and begin to actively participate in democracy. 
Regardless of our individual positions on guns in schools, armed teachers, or firearms legislation, we can likely agree that the Parkland students are a credit to their teachers, their families, and to the Parkland public education system.

Passionate, informed, and well spoken, these students give us hope that as educators and as librarians we play an essential role in helping students assume their places in the world.  We peddle literature that shows young people taking the lead and solving problems.  We teach students to assess information sources, and we encourage them to seek and consider viewpoints that differ from their own. And perhaps most importantly, we listen.

When classes resume in East Bridgewater, I will endeavor to make it up to Alyssa in the listening department. Yet this is a small consolation in the face of all we have lost.  School violence once again forces us to reexamine what we do as a nation.  The difference is, this time our students demand to be part of the conversation. I hope we listen.​
“The time is always right to do what is right." Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.” Nelson Mandela
4 Comments
Reba Tierney
2/27/2018 01:49:41 pm

Carrie, I think your article is timely and a great reminder that listening to our students is so essential. Thank you!

Reply
Judi Paradis
2/27/2018 11:02:39 pm

Thank you for this Carrie--just what I needed to hear and think about.

Reply
Anita Cellucci
3/5/2018 09:29:19 am

Yes, active listening is essential for a more empathetic society. Thanks for writing this.

Reply
Linda St Laurent
3/8/2018 11:45:34 am

I am grateful to work in a school
where students, teachers and administrators have come together to talk and listen to each other as we try to find our own personal and collective responses to these horrible tragedies.
This opportunity has pushed me out of my comfort zone and challenged me to ask questions and continue to learn as much as I can about all sides of this issue. Humans need to experience and practice empathy to grow stronger & this is one action each of us can take, regardless of
our individual perspectives on the political debate.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences!

Reply

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    Forum Newsletter

    Co-Editors
    Reba Tierney and
    ​Luke Steere

    Reba is the School Librarian at Waltham High School; Luke is School Librarian at  Wilson Middle in Natick

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