Mom defends teacher who doesn't want to lay down her life to protect students during school shooting

School shootings remain a major concern in the US, affecting both students and teachers. This raises the question: how far does a teacher's responsibility extend? Addressing this, a teacher openly stated that while she cared for her students, she would not sacrifice her life for them. Poet and advocate Jordan Simone, known on TikTok as @jordxn.simone, defended the teacher's position, emphasizing that society has normalized unrealistic expectations of educators. The 26-year-old mom used the platform to explain why teachers shouldn't be expected to risk their lives during such tragic events.

"I recently saw this post from a teacher saying that she doesn't know if she would lay down her life to protect her students in case there was violence in the building," Simone began. "A lot of people were like, 'That's an inside thought.' 'You shouldn't say that out loud.' 'This is why I am homeschooling my kids.'" The mom disagreed with those people in the comment section of the teacher's video. "I think we should really start confronting the idea that teachers are expected to be frontline soldiers now because we are so used to violence in our schools." The teacher expressed that she loved her students and her job, but she had a baby at home and didn't know if she would want to make that sacrifice.

"People wholeheartedly expected her to make that sacrifice or at least not say she doesn't want to out loud," Simone highlighted. "Teachers aren't soldiers. They're not firefighters. They're not police officers. They have no business risking their lives so that they can do things like teach the ABCs or calculus." She felt that the only reason people forget that "teachers are people with complex lives outside the classroom" is because they have become so used to violence in schools. "I think more teachers need to point out the fact that they do wanna make it home to their families and their kids at the end of the day as well."

"I think more teachers need to be able to say that that is a sacrifice they don't wanna think about making or feel pressured that they need to make it without being shunned, belittled or ostracized," the mom went on. "Because all day long, these are the people who, for minimum wage or less, work really, really hard to educate the next generation and that should be enough." She added, "Their classrooms should not be a war zone. Their lives should not hang in the balance and we, as people, should not expect that of them."

Simone continued, "As the daughter of a teacher, I know, with confidence, my mom would lay down her life to protect her students, but that means I would lose my mom." She concluded her video by saying, "While she'd be a hero, and I completely understand why she would do it, I'd be pretty angry that she had to because, at the end of the day, my mom is a teacher, not a soldier, and we need to remember that."

People took to the comments to support Simone's stance. @crapestry wrote, "Educators should absolutely be sharing those thoughts. It's like people forget teachers are people. Some have kids, and all of them have a family. Good lord." @brunetti_4 commented, "Some of my coworkers were baffled when I said this! I'm a mom to two young children. If I died protecting my students, they would replace me within a few days. My family would mourn me forever." @schoolinthechaos remarked, "If that's the expectation, they need to be paid a hell of a lot more money."

You can follow Jordan Simone (@jordxn.simone) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.