Hi Paul. Hi Ardly. How are you doing? I'm doing great. How are you? I'm so good. It's so great to have you on Small Town Dicks. Oh I am so happy to be here. So we want to know how did we persuade you to join us here on Small Town Dicks. Oh it was it was a lot of arm twisting. Not the truth.

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And police stations across the country officers start their shifts in the briefing room. It's a place where law enforcement can speak openly and candidly about safety, trust, and safety.

We think it's time to invite you in. So pull up a chair. Welcome to the briefing room.

Today on the briefing room is part two of our discussion on classroom safety and training for active shooter situations. Once again we're joined by two teachers both in public schools in Texas. Jennifer and Kenzie welcome back.

Thank you. We appreciate you for having us on most time nobody asks us so this is nice. Exactly. Yeah.

So I have a question. Do you feel like this active shooter critical incident training is really basically a bandaid that we're not addressing the root of the issues like for instance mental health.

These school shooters are usually young people have reached a breaking point for whatever reason and the field they have no resources perhaps they don't have any resources to deal with adversity.

And now they're taking it out on some group of people they feel has humiliated them has wrong them in some way and I feel like in all of these trainings not that you shouldn't have the training you absolutely should but the core issue isn't actually being addressed.

Yeah for sure I mean again because I grew up I went to high school while all of this was so prevalent. We had kids that everybody kind of looked at sideways and was like well someone's going to shoot up the school it's going to be that kid because it almost feels like a cookie cutter of like they're always young white males that's a pandemic in and of itself right there like what is going on with this demographic.

That we are not taking the time to understand why this keeps happening it blows my mind because like and you'll hear politicians say well it's not a gun problem it's a mental health problem but we're not addressing the mental health problem I agree with you I agree with you I think that there are way way too many guns I think there's too much access to them too easily but that is a different issue why aren't we talking about this.

Because you know they go against the will it's a gun issue know it's a mental health issue and then the conversation stops.

Where is the mental health funding where are those resources yeah where's the resources for that it's frustrating when to your point you're putting quite literally a bandaid on a bullet hole here and it seems like everybody wants to talk in circles around each other and nobody wants to actually try to fix it.

And for us I don't know about you I didn't sign on to be a first responder I'm not getting paid enough to be a first responder I didn't agree to this not that you'll get paid enough either but it's very frustrating and especially for me it being my second year I shouldn't already feel like this like I have wanted to do this job since I was in kindergarten that's all I've ever wanted to be I knew what I wanted to do with my life and two years in and it's not going to be a second year.

Two years in and it's like am I going to die or am I going to burn out from all of this and be done in three years like it's just it feels like everything is always just caving in on us I always feel like not even am I going to die but am I going to respond improperly and have to tell somebody else their child is dead.

Well along those lines have you guys had a moment where you went okay honestly if this happens what would I do how does this go down in my mind.

Yeah every time I'm in my classroom every time if they come in this door we might have time to get out this way if I hear it in the other building could I get out this back door if they're already in the hall is there enough space for everybody to hide in the bathroom.

I've got two exit plans for my classroom I have an exit plan for each special that they go to we as a grade level have practiced our exit plan for lunch at the kids be at lunch or recess it's just always in the back of your mind.

Do you guys want to have an SRO at every school I have mixed feelings about that I don't hate the idea but I've heard just you know people making points about well.

There are humans and they're they're going to see certain things and not see certain things and it can give some of the kids that get in trouble all the time maybe a negative interaction with the police but I think probably the good would out way especially if it was a police officer that was you know dedicated to and trained to dealing with elementary school children that it could be really beneficial.

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