Nearly 20 kids dead in another US school shooting. How to respond to teachers and students when they ask/talk about the school shooting? Should I just carry on as normal?
Ask them to clarify by day and city, otherwise you don’t know what they’re talking about.
Tell them what thoughts and prayers are and why they help more than actually doing anything.
Crime happens and it’s sad. No need to explain anything. A disturbed kid did a disturbing thing.
Unfortunately these topics come up all too often. They always ask me how many guns I own and if I ever brought them to school. Having been raised in a state with stricter gun regulations, I have no experience with firearms. I usually explain that these events tend to happen in states with more liberal gun laws. Not that I’m shifting blame but that the occurrence happens more since young children tend to not understand trigger control and don’t know how to handle their emotions. Instead they know guns are for keeping bad guys at bay and to them the bad guys are the people who make them feel bad. They tend to be too young to understand that isn’t self defense and nothing justifies it, no matter how hurt their feelings have been. It’s a tough topic to tackle. Japan has zero tolerance for guns and even though I don’t support them, I don’t condemn them either, so it’s hard for me to explain to them why people having guns has any positives for society.
___My comment is just trying to be neutral. I try not to push my opinion or any agendas at work. I usually attempt to get out of any sided arguments as quickly as possible.___
[deleted]
Are they asking you in private or asking you in front of the class?
Business as usual. It’s a problem, but it’s a problem in the states. Japan is a different country with problems, yes, but *different* problems, and what’s going on at the other end of the pacific doesn’t bear much relevance.
*14 kids aged 8-10, And a teacher
Answer.
That’s what I do.
The saddest thing is that these mass shootings are getting more and more common which in a way makes them less shocking – let me explain – when you see the news about 20 or so people killed in a mass shooting in America, you think ‘oh no not another one’ but are you really surprised? This one is particularly bad in that it involved children getting killed but how many mass shootings have there been in American schools?
Google knife attacks in Japan
Tell them how broken the American system is and how lucky Japan is that people are reasonable and have strict gun laws.
There has been a cultural shift since the 90’s that exacerbates mass shootings. It’s easy to blame guns (personally don’t think anyone needs a gun), but there are other factors.
Social Media addiction
income inequality / no social safety net
broken homes (being raised with no discipline or love)
political divide
etc.
America has changed and I hope it can heal itself. Small children being targeted is sickening.
You can tell them that they can be happy to be in Japan and that those things are caused by American laws.
Have you been approached by teachers or students about it? Did they ask you specific questions you can share here?
On another world topic, when Russia started the invasion of Ukraine, I discussed it with social studies teachers in anticipation of the students asking questions. I explained my family’s history connected with two of the invaded cities. It kept the discussions factual, providing cultural information (a lot of Googling in Japanese).
Very few students asked about the invasion. It’s a relief, really, that they don’t.
My hot take:
No one needs your hot take at work. “it’s bad” is about as far as I take it. It’s a nuanced issue as it is, and you’re going to have a hard time communicating (in English or Japanese — it’s someone’s second language) nuance with someone who has never even set foot in the States.
>Nearly 20 kids dead in another US school shooting. How to respond to teachers and students when they ask/talk about the school shooting? Should I just carry on as normal?
I don’t understand the problem here. How to respond? It depends on what they ask.
People only ask your religious/political opinions for one of/two reasons: To get a third party confirmation of their own beliefs/to pick a fight. Be prepared for either if you plan to give them your true opinion, but never forget that if you’re an American in a foreign country giving your opinions on American topics, you’re the only representation of America with which that person is interacting. Don’t be a shitty one.
​
edit: that goes for any foreign national. Lot’s of stereotypes born abroad are because the representatives in front of their faces are pieces of shit.
I just say “America is broken. I’m never going back. I wouldn’t send your kids there either.” It’s almost a verbatim speech I have to give routinely. Sad but true.
Depending on age, etc of the person asking, I’d probably say something like:
*”I don’t know, I was in Japan when it happened.”*
or
*”I think it’s worth considering why these things happen.”*
Both are neutral, the second puts it on the listener to form their own opinions anyway.
I’m not telling you how to best respond, but this is what I do.
I am truthful about it; I say how horrible it is. I also point out that although gun violence is very much in the media, I hadn’t once seen or been affected by it personally when living in the States, even while having experience handling a firearm myself. Then I end with saying how Japan is comparatively safe, and why I like it here.
Students usually have questions, and I speak to them respectfully and answer them as tactfully as possible.
Do what you feel is right, TBH. Your JT should let you know if you’re going out of bounds.
I’ll never forget my JTE asking me 5 min before the bell rang to teach for half the class time about George Floyd and the riots right after it happened. How do you explain that to high school students who can barely write the alphabet? Lol
More often I’ve been asked: “What’s your opinion about the 〜 shooting?” My answer is the same every time:
I grew up in a rural state where hunting and animal encounters often require a gun. While I never owned a gun, I was trained proper firearm usage and safety. My peers were often hunters that followed the law to a T, but being young always has short-sighted actions on the forefront.
While guns were a normal day thing, people had them in their trucks, and we even had a rifle team at our high school. Similar to archery, rifle teams demonstrated marksmanship in different shooting positions. But while I never experienced a school shooting, gun violence was always there.
In my second year of high school, a classmates’ brother committed suicide with a handgun. He had been going to through some bullying, his grades had plummeted so his parents were rough on him, and he was dropped from the starting line of the football team. He thought it was too much and took his own life. At that age, those things were everything in his life and he thought it was over. As I grew older, I really began to understand how rash and short-sighted youth can really be. Even though he was a responsible gun user and hunter (on accord from his father), just having access to a gun meant a budding life was taken away.
Do I support a full-on gun ban? No. Do I think everyone should have the ability to get a gun? No. Like most things in life, it is a balance. I just hope American lawmakers can find a balance to help reduce and stop gun violence in America.
> How to respond to teachers and students when they ask/talk about the school shooting?
First thought is nothing as it’s outside the curriculum and it’s politically charged amongst ‘Murricans.
If you HAVE to talk about it (i.e. your teacher has told you to say a few words) then stay away from gun politics (literally nobody understands ‘Murricans & their obsession with guns). Instead just be like ‘it is very sad… lots of people died. Our country legalises guns and lots of people own them. I think our country’s relatively safe and have never personally been shot at. However, our gun culture means that every time somebody goes crazy, an automatic weapon gets fired at thousands of school children. There’s a saying that somebody “goes postal” because…etc’.
As an Aussie I just side-step it. Like talking about Japanese whaling (or whatever)… there’s shit that countries stand by despite the fact everybody else looks on and says ‘WTF don’t you stop it?!?’ These are the last topics I raise while teaching kids overseas or having a piss-up with randoms in a bar (whose social/political leaning I have NFI about). Amongst a group of Aussies, I’ll happily say ‘it’s fucking insane that ‘Murricans don’t ban automatic weapons’. Even conservatives will agree with me.
23 comments
Ask them to clarify by day and city, otherwise you don’t know what they’re talking about.
Tell them what thoughts and prayers are and why they help more than actually doing anything.
Crime happens and it’s sad. No need to explain anything. A disturbed kid did a disturbing thing.
Unfortunately these topics come up all too often. They always ask me how many guns I own and if I ever brought them to school. Having been raised in a state with stricter gun regulations, I have no experience with firearms. I usually explain that these events tend to happen in states with more liberal gun laws. Not that I’m shifting blame but that the occurrence happens more since young children tend to not understand trigger control and don’t know how to handle their emotions. Instead they know guns are for keeping bad guys at bay and to them the bad guys are the people who make them feel bad. They tend to be too young to understand that isn’t self defense and nothing justifies it, no matter how hurt their feelings have been.
It’s a tough topic to tackle. Japan has zero tolerance for guns and even though I don’t support them, I don’t condemn them either, so it’s hard for me to explain to them why people having guns has any positives for society.
___My comment is just trying to be neutral. I try not to push my opinion or any agendas at work. I usually attempt to get out of any sided arguments as quickly as possible.___
[deleted]
Are they asking you in private or asking you in front of the class?
Business as usual. It’s a problem, but it’s a problem in the states. Japan is a different country with problems, yes, but *different* problems, and what’s going on at the other end of the pacific doesn’t bear much relevance.
*14 kids aged 8-10, And a teacher
Answer.
That’s what I do.
The saddest thing is that these mass shootings are getting more and more common which in a way makes them less shocking – let me explain – when you see the news about 20 or so people killed in a mass shooting in America, you think ‘oh no not another one’ but are you really surprised? This one is particularly bad in that it involved children getting killed but how many mass shootings have there been in American schools?
Google knife attacks in Japan
Tell them how broken the American system is and how lucky Japan is that people are reasonable and have strict gun laws.
[mass shootings by year](https://www.statista.com/statistics/811487/number-of-mass-shootings-in-the-us/)
There has been a cultural shift since the 90’s that exacerbates mass shootings. It’s easy to blame guns (personally don’t think anyone needs a gun), but there are other factors.
Social Media addiction
income inequality / no social safety net
broken homes (being raised with no discipline or love)
political divide
etc.
America has changed and I hope it can heal itself. Small children being targeted is sickening.
You can tell them that they can be happy to be in Japan and that those things are caused by American laws.
Have you been approached by teachers or students about it? Did they ask you specific questions you can share here?
On another world topic, when Russia started the invasion of Ukraine, I discussed it with social studies teachers in anticipation of the students asking questions. I explained my family’s history connected with two of the invaded cities. It kept the discussions factual, providing cultural information (a lot of Googling in Japanese).
Very few students asked about the invasion. It’s a relief, really, that they don’t.
My hot take:
No one needs your hot take at work. “it’s bad” is about as far as I take it. It’s a nuanced issue as it is, and you’re going to have a hard time communicating (in English or Japanese — it’s someone’s second language) nuance with someone who has never even set foot in the States.
>Nearly 20 kids dead in another US school shooting. How to respond to teachers and students when they ask/talk about the school shooting? Should I just carry on as normal?
I don’t understand the problem here. How to respond? It depends on what they ask.
People only ask your religious/political opinions for one of/two reasons: To get a third party confirmation of their own beliefs/to pick a fight. Be prepared for either if you plan to give them your true opinion, but never forget that if you’re an American in a foreign country giving your opinions on American topics, you’re the only representation of America with which that person is interacting. Don’t be a shitty one.
​
edit: that goes for any foreign national. Lot’s of stereotypes born abroad are because the representatives in front of their faces are pieces of shit.
I just say “America is broken. I’m never going back. I wouldn’t send your kids there either.” It’s almost a verbatim speech I have to give routinely. Sad but true.
Depending on age, etc of the person asking, I’d probably say something like:
*”I don’t know, I was in Japan when it happened.”*
or
*”I think it’s worth considering why these things happen.”*
Both are neutral, the second puts it on the listener to form their own opinions anyway.
I’m not telling you how to best respond, but this is what I do.
I am truthful about it; I say how horrible it is. I also point out that although gun violence is very much in the media, I hadn’t once seen or been affected by it personally when living in the States, even while having experience handling a firearm myself. Then I end with saying how Japan is comparatively safe, and why I like it here.
Students usually have questions, and I speak to them respectfully and answer them as tactfully as possible.
Do what you feel is right, TBH. Your JT should let you know if you’re going out of bounds.
I’ll never forget my JTE asking me 5 min before the bell rang to teach for half the class time about George Floyd and the riots right after it happened. How do you explain that to high school students who can barely write the alphabet? Lol
More often I’ve been asked: “What’s your opinion about the 〜 shooting?” My answer is the same every time:
I grew up in a rural state where hunting and animal encounters often require a gun. While I never owned a gun, I was trained proper firearm usage and safety. My peers were often hunters that followed the law to a T, but being young always has short-sighted actions on the forefront.
While guns were a normal day thing, people had them in their trucks, and we even had a rifle team at our high school. Similar to archery, rifle teams demonstrated marksmanship in different shooting positions. But while I never experienced a school shooting, gun violence was always there.
In my second year of high school, a classmates’ brother committed suicide with a handgun. He had been going to through some bullying, his grades had plummeted so his parents were rough on him, and he was dropped from the starting line of the football team. He thought it was too much and took his own life. At that age, those things were everything in his life and he thought it was over. As I grew older, I really began to understand how rash and short-sighted youth can really be. Even though he was a responsible gun user and hunter (on accord from his father), just having access to a gun meant a budding life was taken away.
Do I support a full-on gun ban? No.
Do I think everyone should have the ability to get a gun? No.
Like most things in life, it is a balance. I just hope American lawmakers can find a balance to help reduce and stop gun violence in America.
> How to respond to teachers and students when they ask/talk about the school shooting?
First thought is nothing as it’s outside the curriculum and it’s politically charged amongst ‘Murricans.
If you HAVE to talk about it (i.e. your teacher has told you to say a few words) then stay away from gun politics (literally nobody understands ‘Murricans & their obsession with guns). Instead just be like ‘it is very sad… lots of people died. Our country legalises guns and lots of people own them. I think our country’s relatively safe and have never personally been shot at. However, our gun culture means that every time somebody goes crazy, an automatic weapon gets fired at thousands of school children. There’s a saying that somebody “goes postal” because…etc’.
As an Aussie I just side-step it. Like talking about Japanese whaling (or whatever)… there’s shit that countries stand by despite the fact everybody else looks on and says ‘WTF don’t you stop it?!?’ These are the last topics I raise while teaching kids overseas or having a piss-up with randoms in a bar (whose social/political leaning I have NFI about). Amongst a group of Aussies, I’ll happily say ‘it’s fucking insane that ‘Murricans don’t ban automatic weapons’. Even conservatives will agree with me.