Once again the unspeakable happened on an American college campus.

As a former educator, don’t get me started on what I have seen and experienced with students’ mentally illnesses. (Pardon me if I’m rash judging the cause of yesterday’s brutal shootings.)

For today, I just wish to say that I commiserate with every educator who still has to live with the specter and reality of school violence, and the stress of monthly lockdown drills, imagining each time what their reactions would be if ever the lockdowns were, in fact, the real thing.

That reality happened once to me. Not that an active shooter was in the building, but that a robbery with multiple gunmen had taken place nearby, and we were subsequently locked down–although not knowing why or for how long.

It is a frightening experience. Fortunately, no classes were in the library at that time, which relieved the bulk of the lockdown physical and emotional burden.

Nevertheless, with a myriad of security procedures in place every day, all day, I would be surprised if any teacher could put far out of his or her mind that our schools are a place where they are responsible for the health, welfare, and safety of their students in ways that, in years prior, would have been unimaginable.

While there are many aspects of teaching that I sorely miss, the stress of potential school violence, constantly brought to mind by heightened security and lockdown drills is one I am happy to have left behind.

God bless the grieving families. God protect all teachers and their students.

How has your workplace changed in view of potential security breaches?

Concerning school violence. Yes! The phenomenon is complex, as well as grave. We who are older, who have lived and worked longer, what wisdom born of age and experience can we share with our law- and decision-makers?