As a child, my parents relayed stories and lessons from the newspaper daily. My mom and dad would open the local newspaper wide on the kitchen table and often read stories aloud. During and after that, they would discuss the articles speculating on why events happened and what we could learn from them. As a child and teen, most of the lessons I learned from the articles they discussed related to equity, respect, changing life patterns and safety.
One of the articles that remains strong in my mind was one about group mentality--the article discussed a young man who ended up spending years in jail because he went along with others in an act that resulted in the murder of another young man. My parents pointed out the fact that the young man could have turned around and left as soon as the situation became dangerous or better yet, he could have left and alerted authorities who would have likely put an end to the danger before anyone was hurt. Many stories pointed to the danger women were in when they were on their own in dangerous places and then the stories of the mistreatment of people due to prejudice, narrow mindedness and oppression.
Today, the news carries story after story about court cases, and in each of those stories, there are lessons to be learned. The most recent story about Kim Potter's convinction carries with it many considerations for our lives. First of all, every professional has to consider the "do not go there" scenarios for their jobs. Potter's situation where she grabbed the gun rather than the tazer brings about many considerations for the work of law enforcement and others including these questions:
- How might ingrained prejudice affect the work you do--how can you rid yourself of prejudices that create harm and hurt to others?
- When is it better to let things be rather than exasperate a situation? For example, the young man that Potter killed had a warrant, but was the warrant worth creating such a volatile situation that ended in confusion, then murder. We all face situations in our work and lives that can turn volatile, and often it's better to simply let the situation be rather than exasperate matters to a point of injury or in this case, death.
- What safety measures must we follow to make sure we do our jobs and live our lives safely? In every job, there is the opportunity to make grave mistakes, and it's important to consider those errors with detail in order to avoid them. As an educator and parent, one important consideration has always been to give yourself a time out when you become frustrated or angry--children can infuriate us at times, and rather than act or speak with anger or frustration, it's best to remove yourself from the situation for a time to regain your composure.
- What is on your do-not-go-there list, a list of behaviors you should never do in order to remain safe emotionally and physically. The more we know ourselves, the more we know what we can or cannot do in order to be safe. We have to create these lists and remember what not to do.