Dear Team ISR,
I’ve been struggling with the idea of accepting a position at a French International School in the United States of America. What’s stopping me? I’m afraid America has become far too dangerous.
I attended university in America and cherish the opportunity to return. However, following the Dayton and El Paso mass shootings, which brings the total number of such incidents in America up to 255 this year (by August 5th), I’m thinking that returning to America could be a fatal mistake, especially for a foreigner woman of color, like me.
When I think about the tragic school shootings at Sandy Hook, Parkland and Charlotte (to name a few), I know I would never feel truly safe at school. My friends say I must be crazy to even think about living in America these days. My parents point out that it appears the police have taken a “shoot first, ask questions later” approach when it comes to black folks in America. They emphasize they also see little consequences (if any) for police brutality against minorities. Add to that a renewed presence of the KKK along with their open support of the current American president, and life seems too treacherous in the U.S. right now.
Maybe I’m overthinking this! Maybe I’m overreacting! Perhaps I’ve fallen victim to sensationalist news reporting? I’ve seen incidents in other countries grossly misinterpreted as reported by news networks with “an agenda.” I sadly don’t think this is the case in America at this time.
If you would distribute my comments in your weekly newsletter and open up this topic to your readers, I would sincerely appreciate it. Hearing their perspective and advice would be of benefit to me and other educators of color who have America on their radar for an overseas teaching position.
My Best Regards to the staff at ISR,
Joan
PS. Thank you for your good work. Keep it up. So many of us depend on you!
ISR Discussion Boards 
Dear Joan,
Your concerns are entirely valid. Most of them have been addressed. One thing I would add is that if you are considering a job at the French International School in San Francisco, here are some plusses and minuses.
The plus is that San Francisco is a beautiful city with lots to do. The minus is that it is exorbitantly expensive, so you absolutely MUST have housing included; this would be the same in a city like New York, as well.
The other downside to SF proper (where I lived for 4 years and in the Bay Area for 9) is that it is very homogenous–it’s mostly white rich people, and the younger ones are mostly male Googlers, Facebook millionaires, and similar. The diversity is gone from SF (you’d have to go to Oakland) due to the skyrocketing cost of everything. I’m not going to diss the residents, but will say that most are more concerned with getting rich and going to Burning Man than they are with solving some of the serious problems we have in the U.S. and around the globe.
For a person of color with international interests and an educator’s mindset, you might consider choosing a French International School in New York (also lived there for 2.5 years). You’ll need street smarts to live there, though.
In sum, relocating anywhere comes with risks. If you decide to venture to the U.S., choose a larger city with substantial diversity, where yo can make local friends and find an expat community. Please ignore the trolls above–they don’t represent most of us. And good luck in all of your future endeavors!
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Worry more about housing and healthcare costs which could be financially prohibitive. If the school doesn’t provide full health insurance you could be taking a HUGE salary cut. Additionally, most International schools are in the more expensive cities and if housing is not provided, could also prohibit your choice. Yes, being “of color” is an issue (especially if you have kids), but the issue of violence is less of a choice factor. There is violence everywhere. My opinions of course.
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So grateful I am teaching in Pakistan and not in America………
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Interesting! Where are you teaching in Pakistan? I’m happy at the G&T public school where I teach at the moment. But Karachi and Islamabad American International Schools are high on my list for the future.
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I have never liked generalization “America”, which, incidentally is quite common. This is a huge, a very diverse country and labelling it in one, or another way is completely inappropriate and misleading. There are places in Europe (or other similar “safe” places) to which I would not go, even less teach, and there are places in the USA in which I could live forever.
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You’re absolutely right! America is the most dangerous place on this planet.
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JFC, that’s not what she wrote at all. She has legitimate questions about how safe it is here where guns are more prevalent than her current locale, and racism (remember she’s non-white) is unquestionably back out in the open. I don’t understand why my fellow Americans think they can win people over by shaming them or telling them they are wrong with no facts to back it up. I mean, tmc at least tried.
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If America is so dangerous for a young American woman to return home than explain to me why 80% of the world’s population would migrate there tomorrow if they had the opportunity. I would kindly ask ISR to feature relevant articles to teaching overseas rather than this nonsense.
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You missed the point completely. This is not a young American woman. This is a woman of color from a different country debating if it is safe for her to come to America to teach in a French International School. If you think this article is nonsense, you have no business being in the teaching profession. I pity your students. And by the way Einstein, even if this article was about an American woman turning home, you still missed the point!!
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In addition to this being highly relevant–a foreign teacher considering teaching at a French International school in America–you completely invented a statistic. There’s no explaining why “80% of the world’s population would migrate here,” because it simply is not true.
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Unfortunately, your friends are right. I say this as a patriotic white 50 something American male who grew up in the Texas. Most of my career in education, social work, and pastoral work has been with Native American, Spanish speaking, and African American students and clients. In the last 15 years I have been in 3 lockdown situations in 2 states because of credible threats of violence. The racism that has always existed in this country has become more blatant and aggressive since 2016. And I say this after a life time of hearing what some whites say when they think they are alone. People whom I have known for years and thought knew better demonize Muslims and defend putting Latin American asylum seekers’ children in detention facilities. I worry a great deal about the safety of friends, relatives, coworkers, clients, and former students who are either non-whites born in the USA or non-white immigrants. You come at your own risk if you choose to come here.
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If you’re scared of coming to USA because of being assaulted by a gun, then you should logically be even more scared from falling to your death, or being in a motor vehicle. 1 in 108 death by motor vehicle, 1 in 122 death by falling, 1 in 315 death by gun.
You sound like a total loon is what I’m saying.
http://www.businessinsider.com/us-gun-death-murder-risk-statistics-2018-3
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You were so close to giving a sound, reasoned response, designed to assuage the OP’s fears. And then you had to be a total asshole in the last sentence.
Nice job.
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This is a really fascinating discussion and it hits very close to home. I have been abroad for nearly 20 years, mostly in South America, with brief stops in Asia and Europe. I have an amazing job offer on the table to lead a prestigious private school in the United States (in the south), and although I would miss the international scene, I have been leaning towards accepting the job. BUT…one thing my wife said to me last week (she is from Latin America, educated and completely fluent in English), “They don’t like people like me in the USA.” Yes, I know this is a huge generalization on her part, but it left me thinking. She is right. There are MORE people now that openly express their hatred for immigrants. Will she be confused for an illegal? Will she suffer? Will our children suffer that racism?
I understand there is a lot of hyperbole right now, but I do feel that Trump’s America is not the America I grew up in. I love my country, and I would love for my children to experience it for more than a few weeks of vacation, but I am seriously concerned.
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If countries like Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Australia, New Zealand etc define what it is to be a first world country then America is not first world.
You really are risking your life going to America. Particularly the ignorant, backward southern states. This is a country where they put children in cages, diabetics die because they cannot afford insulin and out of control police forces shoot black people on sight. Add to that millions of gullible ignorant people like Mike Gordon have been manipulated to believe immigrants/Muslims/Jews etc are to blame for all their problems and you have one of the worst countries on earth to live in and bring up a family.
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Hi there Joan,
I relocated to the U.S.A a year ago with my partner and son to work at an International school. We traveled from Colombia. For starters, I recently joked with a colleague how it seems pointless to rent horror movies nowadays based on the circumstances in which US ALL find ourselves in the world. I guess one can initially base arguments on the context where we come from, in your case France & the U.S.A (pointing out that AMERICA is not a term exclusive of the US, but it comprises several other territories to the North and South.) Still, the Nationalist sentiment (Hatred) is growing worldwide and basically you could get shot and experience violence anywhere, though reasons would be different. In Colombia Community leaders are being silenced (KILLED) all over the territory. In Brazil, there is a green flag for police officers and people to demonize (aim and shoot) at anybody barely connected with ‘Drugs’ without even mentioning what goes on in Venezuela and other countries in the region. You might have more examples of situations in Europe and there are.many more in Asia where though access to guns is different, liberties are also being violated and DANGER is still there. So the question is whether you are able to allow that fear that hinders you to take a better job opportunity to deescalate to a bearable level or is that fear going to control you.
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I can certainly sympathize with your concerns and thought very carefully about which country I would consider bringing my then 9 year old daughter to. I chose Portugal, a very good and safe decision. Why wouldn’t your safety concerns as an adult and person of color matter? What stood out for me most in your comment is “I don’t feel safe”. Isn’t it important that you put yourself in a professional situation that you do feel safe and can focus on your teaching 100 percent? There are a lot of amazing countries to work in which might offer you more peace of mind. Good luck with your choices.
Nadia
Cascais Portugal
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I say that 40,000 deaths by handgun each of the past ten years shows that the USA has and continues to be extremely violent. Then if you are a person of color your chances of having violence perpetrated against you is extremely high. I am an African American educator with two young sons, I could go back but the thought of having them killed by police action, a random shooter or some racist just keep me away.
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Do your research. More people die in the US due to car deaths than firearms, or at least very close to the same.
Of those handgun deaths, nearly 2/3’s are self-inflicted. So, people are committing violence against themselves.
Sadly, I do agree with you on the issue of you being African American. You should be less concerned about a random shooter, unless you live in an area where gangs are prevalent, than the police.
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What a travesty that people like you are allowed on this site to hide behind anonymity for the purpose of spewing hatred and ignorance. Next time you tell someone to “do your research,” how about just “cite your sources.”
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I say that 40,000 deaths by handgun each of the past ten years shows that the USA has and continues to be extremely violent. Then if you are a person of color your chances of having violence perpetrated against you is extremely high. I am an African American educator with two young sons, I could go back but the thought of having them killed by police action, a random shooter or some racist just keep me away.
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America is extremely dangerous. Black folk are murdered indiscriminately, and we lock up as many brown folk as humanly possible (and they still keep coming, like a never ending shit wave!). Don’t come here. You’d be better going literally anywhere else. Save yourself!
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Thank you so much for this warning! It’s most appreciated. I never had any desire or plans to ever work, live or study in the US although I have many wonderful American friends, who I would love to visit there. But if I visit the US, it would be for a very short time. It’s so sad to see this beautiful and awesome country gradually become more unsafe and dangerous – I cannot even imagine how things have become this way in the US.
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In fairness to the U.S., most of the “craziness” you hear about is exacerbated by the need for TV news channels to make ratings. Yes, too much violence is happening here and around the globe–and guns are a real problem–but most people here are still good folks trying to make a living, enjoy their lives, and take care of their children.
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When I went to a job fair a few years ago, we were given good advice. The leader cautioned us against making decisions based on news headlines or political agendas. I suggest you go for a personal interview. Overall, my opinion is that individuals create their own impression by their actions, words, and appearance.
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You are a minority’s with legitimate concerns and thus Mike Gordon equates you to a terrorist sympathiser in his post below.
There are tens of millions of Mike Gordon’s emboldened by Trump. Gullible, ignorant, easily manipulated people who view anyone who doesn’t look like them as a danger. Why would you want to put up with that?
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America in 2019 is an unsafe racist state and, in many ways, not a first world country. Other western countries should have warned their citizens against travel a long time ago.
Tens of millions of Trump’s base are beyond reason, logic and facts. Hate filled, angry and armed they never bothered to get an education or skill that allows them to compete for a decent job. Instead of blaming themselves for being low education, low skill low wage losers minorities are to blame. Could you put up with millions of Mike Gordon’s?
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Speaking of the murder rate in American is like speaking of the Murder rate in all Asia. It varies wildly from city to city. If you are moving back to South Chicago or Detroit the danger you’d face is statistically FAR higher than…say…Madison, Connecticut. However, if we’re going to lump all USA into one statistic, and the overall homicide rate of the USA is one’s cutoff point for being too dangerous a place to dwell, then the following countries would also rank beyond that person’s tolerance for danger…
(Cut/paste from Wikipedia Homicide ranking)
Honduras, El Salvador, Jamaica, Venezuela, Belize, Guatemala, Saint Kitts, Trinidad and Tobago, Columbia, S. Africa, Bahamas, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Dominican Republic, Saint Vincent, Mexico, Panama, Greenland, Guyana, Ecaudor, Zimbabwe, Nicaragua, Turkmenistan, Grenada, Paraguay, Barbados, Peru, Russia, Costa Rica, Kyrgyzstan, Philippines, Seychelles, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Haiti, Antigua, Lithuania, Uruguay, Argentina, Estonia, Ukraine, Cuba, Thailand
Having traveled to many of the countries on that list, and having dangerous encounters, I find almost all of them extremely livable (considering, of course, the exact location of my home).
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Also Joan did your family snicker under your breaths on September 11 2001…when 3500 innocent people..who you would call KKK..were murdered in cold blood…just curious
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You want a reason not to go to America this guy is it. Tens of millions of Trump’s base just like this
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In the middle of your essay here you took the time to demonize people who maybe want secure borders..and have concerns possibly for their families and their cultural identity…you paint a broad brush by saying their is a growing KKK movement…how insulting..and how typical of many foreigners who wont accept that maybe many Americans dont share you views…you demonize them..
As far as Trump goes…what choice did we have..we had his egomaniac personality or we had a just as vile..if not more dangerous warmonger who took hundreds of millions of dollars from the saudis… from the EU and the chinese… see Hillary is a foreign agent..who also with obama funded al Qaeda and ISIS who murdered hundreds of thousands of Christian’s in Syria and made thousands of women and girls sex slaves..
You obviously like the USA for its benefits and opportunities..but like many foreigners in this era you have a deep seeded hatred deep down for Americans
Dont go to poland…hungary… Czech republic or Slovakia or now italy…as these nations you would call KKK also..their sin in you eyes in wanting to survive…a keep their identity..
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I never thought I would see US politics in play on ISR. Mike, your statements lack proof, and that is dangerous. It is ok to have an opinion, but don’t be a sheep.
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The young woman asked for some realistic advice on a big decision. For all we know, she was a CHILD when 9/11 happened. Hopefully, you’re not an educator. I’m not even sure why you’re on this website. Go troll somewhere else!
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We cannot control everything in life as much we would like to. These days we worry wherever we are and we just have to be cautious and look out for ourselves.
Life has challenges we have to face no matter where one lives in the world and you need to do what gives you peace and less stress.
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Hi,
In order to make an informed decision, you should probably look at this. Also remember that not all countries put incidents on the 24-hour news cycle.
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Also, if you look at the per capita rate of mass shootings, you’ll find that the USA (#11) isn’t even in the top ten. Number 1–Norway. All countries in the top 10 are in Europe.
https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/sorry-despite-gun-control-advocates-claims-u-s-isnt-the-worst-country-for-mass-shootings/
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And America has people like this who create their own alternate reality
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I’m not convinced that your opinion is proof that this article is inaccurate. Can you give some evidence that is more tangible than your snarky comment? So far, the article cited by this poster seems more based in reality than an unsupported comment presented as fact. Left at face value, it seems you have only given evidence that you are the one creating a reality based, not on fact but on an alternate source.
I don’t know what to believe, but I can’t believe you just because you say so. Can you be a little more concrete to prove your opinion that “America has people who create their own reality” and you don’t create your own reality?
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This was an excellent read—filled with facts, not emotion.
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Only looking at death rates from mass shootings can be misleading though. If a police officer shoots someone, or a victim is shot in a drive by, those incidents would not be included in mass shooting statistics, yet I believe those types of incidents are part of what Joan is concerned about.
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Murder rates are going to be location dependent in the US. St. Louis, Baltimore, Detroit, and New Orleans would rank ahead of El Salvador, if they were their own countries. 14 more U.S. cities would rank in the top 10. New York City, OTOH, has a surprisingly small murder rate; 3.39 per 100,000. I’d be curious which city this French International School is located in.
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I taught abroad for 13 years before the need to take care of my parents brought me home and, as I watch friends post happy returns to old schools or their excitement about arriving at new schools, I definitely feel a pang of wistfulness. And yes, these are definitely dark days in American education: after a planned shooting at a local school, we’ve all had active shooter training, which has been hideous at any number of levels. And the news is full of harrowing events and injustices and ghastly rhetoric at the state and national level. Wistfulness aside, though, I don’t regret coming home. It’s an all-hands-on-deck kind of moment. If we’re in public schools where we can’t be partisan, at least we can say that the injustices we hear about on the news, the language that is being bandied about in this moment, are not normal and are not right. The children I teach don’t appreciate some of the privileges that many of the children I taught internationally did (though surely there could be troubles there, too). In many ways, my students here are more vulnerable in all kinds of ways–to the rhetoric, to the trauma borne of the rhetoric, to many breakdowns in society (the insidious influence of the opiate crises over generations). I miss the safety and comfort of my international school life. I miss the children. I miss the freedom to focus on exciting professional development. I miss seeing the world (and being able to afford to see it, if I might confess), but I don’t mind getting back into the trenches. I find that my international experience, the global experience, can put things into a different kind of perspective.
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Considering the fact that about 40% of the U.S. population are people of color the odds of anything happening to you are astronomical. The U.S. is still one of the best places in the world to live and dont blame it all on Trump, after all 62 million people voted for him! The media simply blows things out of all proportion.
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Wow, the first sentence of this comment blows me away!!!
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After all 65 million people voted for his opponent, but hey, whatever you need to justify your thoughts. No president has so openly encouraged such behaviors as we have seen. I too will be repatriating next year to be with parents, and I too am not looking forward to it.
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Bye!
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Yes, the USA has had some incidents of shootings which the media has reported over and over. However, I think the USA is the same danger level as other countries.
All over the world there are dangers: danger from illness (malaria, ebola, etc.), dangers by crime (knifings, shootings, physical attacks), danger by war (gangs, political), danger of death in vehicular accident, natural disaster, etc. We don’t see those threats publicized to the level we see the USA shootings– yet they exist.
The USA is very safe. What has been reported are tragic, isolated incidents.
Take normal security precautions when in the USA and you will be fine. Most Americans are helpful law abiding citizens who do their best to be kind and generous. I lived in the USA and experienced only the kindness and generosity of the Yanks.
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When I lived in various places around the world, my family worried I was putting myself in harm’s way. They cited the acts of terror, the high kidnapping rate, the high crime, the war nearby, the high prevalence of contagious diseases, the pollution, etc. It was true that all those things existed and if I only knew what the news reported, I would be afraid to go just about any place on earth. I don’t know where you come from, but chances are high that it’s a place my family back home in the US would think I was crazy to move to or even holiday in based on what they see or read about in the news reports. But they would almost certainly be wrong!
Before I moved home with my biracial toddler a decade ago, I feared what we (she) would experience in terms of acceptance. We were moving to the Deep South. I feared she would be kidnapped and molested if I turned my back for a second. Based on the news and general wisdom, these were valid fears. She was embraced everywhere we went, (literally embraced or cooed over at least by everyone regardless of their color) and after a while I realized my fears of her being snatched at any moment were a bit paranoid. (Of course, I remained vigilant, but wouldn’t you, shouldn’t you regardless of where you live?)
Have you ever been anywhere, in the US or otherwise, where an incident took place and you were flabbergasted at how the media could take one event and make it seem like this thing that, while tragic and heart rendering, didn’t directly affect you or even disrupt day-to-day life, was central to life and was affecting the entire population directly and immediately in a crippling way? If I believed the media, I probably wouldn’t go to any country in Africa, the Mid East, South or Central America, much of Asia, or even some of Europe. I certainly never would have visited England when the IRA was in it’s hay day. Paris was burning in protests a while ago and suffered from a terrible terrorist attack just a few years ago. My sister cautioned me from going there recently because “they throw acid on you in the metro.”
My point is, while the gun violence in the US is terrible and there is no excusing it, it isn’t as prevalent as the media makes it seem. The number you quoted, 255, or whatever it is, is misleading for one. It’s no less concerning that 250 of those 255 mass shootings were gang-related or domestic disputes, and even 1 random gunman is one too many, but it isn’t as wide spread or as likely as that number would make it seem. You are as likely to be a victim of a mass shooting in the US as you are a terrorist attack in Europe or Africa or Asia, for example.
But you have to go where you are comfortable. Even knowing that reports of kidnapping in many South American countries are exaggerated, I don’t think I would move there with my child. Her other parent wouldn’t let her go to the Middle East. Her African relatives cautioned me about certain African countries where she might be raped because she is a virgin and therefore HIV free. I could go on, but I hope I’ve explained my point sufficiently.
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I would echo these sentiments. From abroad, I hear constantly about horrible things happening in the U.S., but I travel quite a bit in the summers when we’re home and don’t feel any less secure than when I left over a decade ago. It is very easy to become stricken with fear based on what the media portrays, but the 24-hour news cycle and the Internet take and run with these things, analyze them to the nth degree, and thrust them in our faces constantly to the point that you’d think the U.S. is a war zone.
Let’s be honest. There are places in the United States it’s probably not terribly safe to go. Certain inner cities are rife with violence, which is a frequent companion of poverty. But the U.S. is a big country and the vast majority of it is very safe.
I don’t mean to break this down to just statistics, but the numbers do speak to the probability of being a victim in a mass shooting, which I cite as that seems to be the thing that many are worried about. The odds in your lifetime of dying in a mass shooting are over 1 in 11,000. By comparison, the odds of you dying by choking to death on food are just over 1 in 3,400. Yet people don’t quit eating for fear of choking. Why would you fear being in a country where your odds of dying like that are so minuscule? There are many other things, all of which have greater odds of taking us out, that we do and don’t give it a second thought.
Maybe I’d choose to avoid inner city Chicago, kind of like I’d probably stay out of a lot of Baghdad, but I would not hesitate to go to Washington, DC and visit the Smithsonian.
My point is, the U.S. isn’t a small place, but the real violence, the inner city stuff that is tied to poverty and gang activity, is much more isolated than it’s portrayed on the news.
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I don’t think my fear is about conventional safety, it is more about the attitude and atmosphere in the country. It is negative and divisive, and sentiments of hate are on the rise. This concerns me for the future. How long will it take for feelings to become actions?
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Agree just how dangerous it is in the USA, seemingly now with Trump at the helm than ever before. Until they do something about the gun laws…give it a miss. Plenty of beautiful and safer places to go. You only have this life, spend it wisely.
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Sandy hook…obama
Pulse nighclub… obama
Fort hood……obama
Virginia tech…Bush Jr
San bernadino…Obama
Columbine….Clinton
San ysidro…..Reagan
U of Texas tower….LBJ
These shootings have gone on long before Trump
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You’re not over reacting nor are you crazy. There are very dangerous places in the world and America happens to be one of them. It’s not new – it’s been like this for a long time. Since at least Columbine there has been incident after incident. Presidents, leaders, Congress changes but the laws regarding obtaining guns remain the same. Stay away from the US. Again, singling out the US is probably unfair, as there are maaaaaany other countries doing horrible things to their citizens and others, but a question is a question. The answer is: stay away.
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This year, working in American Public, I took my first-ever gun trauma class. So now I know how to stuff gauze into a bullet wound to prevent a child from bleeding out. It was a damned depressing reality check.
In our office, there was a small safe containing a handgun, which presumably our principal or secretary would use against an active shooter in the event our SRO was killed.
Our state legislators were debating a bill that would offer bonuses to teachers who took handgun training and packed a pistol at school.
I’m not here to debate the sense or efficacy of any of this. No matter where you stand on guns though, I think we can all agree this is a mad age in which we live.
Returning to teach in Europe this fall. Eager to escape this madness.
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As I read the comments throughout this thread, I am not quiet sure where our fellow educators are teaching in the U.S. regarding the topic.
However, I have taught and served as a school administrator, within the inner cities and have felt safe within the school as well as the community. Are there fights in the school, yes, are there occasional threats made to teachers yes.
I have seen threats against teachers and fights in international schools as well not to mention places like Venezuela and Mexico City where there are shootings, kidnappings and robberies and by far the U.S. is very safe.
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Teaching can be tough enough without the Trumpian Sword of Damocles hanging over you. I’d give the USA a wide berth too…
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There were more mass shootings under Obama’s presidency than Trump. It gets old, everything is his fault, I guess the failing educational system is too. People killing each other in inner city is not addressed. I worked in Chicago for 6 years, I know the fear in kids eyes when they just want to go to the corner store to buy a coke. Obama’s administration failed those kids on so many fronts. And the administrator who felt “safe” is a stretch.
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313 dead in 38 incidents during Obama’s administration (2,922 days)
251 dead in 29 incidents during Trump’s administration so far, which has been 937 days as I post this…
I’m guessing you weren’t a math teacher, eh JD? Or do you really think that’s the end of them?
Even if not a single additional mass shooting occurs between now and the blessed day of January 20, 2021 that whatever Democrat with a pulse and no compromising ties to a hostile foreign power takes office, Trump will STILL have a greater rate of incidents and fatalities.
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Statistics are affected by interpretation of what defines a mass shooting. I am sure you got your statistics from the Dems and their biased news reporting” EH, Anon? Yes, can’t wait for 2020, another crybaby Democratic meltdown.
I’m guessing emotion is more important than facts. I’m guessing you weren’t a math teacher either, moron. State where you got your “statistics” and define what a mass shooting is, ok.
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As a matter of fact, I DO teach math, though the kids I teach WANT TO LEARN. I question whether that’s the case with you, but here goes… Data sourced defines a mass shooting as;
“public attacks in which the shooter and victims were generally unknown to each other, and four or more people were killed.”
The source where I aggregated the data from is the same used by a Cato.org article (https://www.cato.org/blog/are-mass-shootings-becoming-more-frequent) from last year, Mother Jones (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/mass-shootings-mother-jones-full-data/). Both are easily Googled. Every shooting is painstakingly detailed and sourced to as many as three news sources.
I don’t expect you to even pretend to check those sources, but the facts stand. And I don’t believe for one second you were a career teacher. If you were, then you’ve been retired for 20+ years and have become a bitter shell of who you were.
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Yes, I checked the sources you gave. And I stand by my first statement, ” Statistics are affected by interpretation of what defines a mass shooting.” You trust your sites, I get it. America is a dangerous place in many areas, I agree. I must say, I am disappointed in responding to you the way I did to your first sarcastic, arrogant comment, “I’m guessing you weren’t a math teacher, eh JD? Or do you really think that’s the end of them?” And you insulting students that you never met-don’t criticize others and label them as students who don’t want to learn. We all know the kind of teacher you are, “Mr. Perfect” who is always right at the department meetings, acts like he cares more than anyone-and on and on. All the while your coworkers can’t stand you.
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Preach, Joan! Back in 2007 when I took my first overseas job, friends and family always cautioned me: “Be careful over there! People over there are crazy.”
Never mind that innocent people in America were being shot dead every day for the crime of attending school, going to work, hitting the gym, driving, or being of a certain color, ethnicity, religion, orientation, etc.
I would reciprocate, warning them to take care as well. They always looked at me funny. Maybe it was because my first international job was in Lebanon. And fair enough. It was not a good year for Lebanon. There were car bombs. There were assassinations. But statistically, I was safer there than in most American cities (so long as I didn’t run for political office).
Since then, I’ve worked in less strife-addled countries. Even now, I still get the same warnings from friends and family. Yet even now, more than ten years later, the senseless violence has not ceased, or even slowed down, in America.
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We got the same reaction from people when we decided to leave Long Island and teach in Central America. Friends were apoplectic when we left Guatemala after five years to go to the Middle East where we stayed four years. When we came to northeast Florida to retire because grandchildren were nearby, the reaction was, “Thank God you’re back safe.”
Safe? It was here in Florida where I sat huddled on the floor in the dark with 30 ninth-graders for nearly four hours because of a student on campus with a gun — who was never found. One student was huddled under my desk crying — it was her third such experience in as many years.
Kindergarteners have active shooter drills. Four- and five-year-olds. 😦
We don’t go to concerts. We don’t go to movies. We look for exits whenever we are in a crowded place. Guns are ubiquitous here. Common sense is not.
Joan said she would be a foreign woman of color here. Honestly, in this current environment, I wouldn’t come to the US if I were she — even if I could get a visa, which in itself is doubtful these days. And that’s another topic entirely. 😦
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It makes me sad to support your first instincts, that you are worried being a foreign woman of color, put you in greater danger than a person who is not of color. We (white and “conditionally white” non Christian) left fifteen years ago, and having just returned from a visit to Ohio and Kentucky, found people tense and upset, from a gay woman childhood friend of my husband, to the Latino server watching the news in a Chili’s at the airport who burst out with fear and frustration, it is appalling. It’s possible that you would be safe in an urban area large enough to have a French school, but then, is anyone safe there? Amnesty International and other groups have travel advisories stating the government fails to protect its citizens. Good luck whatever you decide.
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Absolutely right you are to think twice. I’m afraid to fly into America for a conference and I’m Caucasian. I will never choose to teach there, much as I love American people. Too many loose cannons.
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