Take It Or Leave It: With Schools Closed Dr. Barbara Taber Talks Classroom Violence, School Shootings, and All The Things We Don't Miss About Education in 2020

    SUFFOLK, VA, May 15, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The silence in school hallways right now is deafening. Where there once lived the jovial laughs, cheers, and rambunctiousness of our country's youth, there is now a maze of barren corridors. If not for the class photos and artwork still adorning the walls, one might hardly believe kids were there at all. With home schooling testing the patience of parents and students alike, the big conversation, right now, seems to be about schools reopening so order can finally be restored.

Make no mistake, our country's educators have been the front-line heroes at every other point in American history — and they are still doing their best to keep the lesson plans going through mom and dad, plus utilizing remote online learning. The loss has been immense and there is most definitely a vacancy, not only education, but in children's lives everywhere. This educational sea change has been felt across the land, as COVID-19 continues its path of destruction.

Is it too soon to discuss the troubles we had been facing in those same hallways and classrooms? There are problems we hope and pray never come back.

In the upcoming, second episode of Take It Or Leave It, esteemed educator and influential Virginian, Dr. Barbara Taber will be discussing the hot-button issues of classroom violence, school shootings, and how our society fits into all of that. Aside from Dr. Taber's usual insight and unique take on her areas of interest, this episode is special in another very significant way. It was originally scheduled to be released at this time (Spring 2020), before our world was shaken by this unprecedented pandemic. The words you're hearing in this podcast comes from a time just barely removed from this unusual and frightening period in history. Despite this or perhaps because of it, Dr. Taber and the program's producers decided this presentation must go forward exactly as it would have been (save for some COVID-19 related text added solely as a reference point).

This lesson is now a timeless one, sadly, especially as the country becomes more and more divided politically and otherwise. Dr. Taber gives her take on why these things happen and what causes people to act (or react) as they do. However, just like everything else that came to a grinding halt two months ago, so too did school violence, because… well… you can't very well have it without a school. How depressing for humanity; for our country. Think about this for a moment: it took a deadly pandemic and a literal shutdown of schools nationwide to stop the old pandemic — school shootings — from occurring; there's something fundamentally troubling about that. Yet, there is also a hopefulness in wondering whether COVID-19 will usher in a shifting of values and actions.

These are all things Dr. Taber invites you to consider, discuss, and write about as we're all navigating these times of change and uncertainty from our respective quarantines. As you experience Episode Two, don't forget that what you are hearing and seeing is material unencumbered, uninfluenced by the ubiquitous threat of COVID-19. Unlike almost everything else new nowadays, this installment is a time capsule of a simpler period; the calm before the storm. It is a testament to how much change can occur in a couple of months and a grim reminder that the horrors of the world never seem to truly stop; like the Laws of Thermodynamics state, they are merely transferred from one place to another.

To fully appreciate the nuanced commentary and myriad perspectives of this already classic episode, you must tune in this month. Put your favorite Netflix and Hulu shows on pause for one night, so you can experience something timely and timeless all at once; something substantial and, above all, something crucial that will loom over the post-pandemic world waiting to see what, if anything, has changed.

For more information, please visit www.DrBarbaraTaberSpeaks.com.

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