Violence in our community: Middle level students’ voices on Walmart shootings in El Paso, Texas

Abstract

Abstract On August 3rd, 2019, a racially-charged mass shooting occurred at Walmart in El Paso, TX that killed 23 people and injured another 23. Following the Walmart shooting, students in this borderland region wrote essays related to their experiences. We used the themes we identified to inform implications for teaching writing and composition for middle school level instruction. Student themes reflected affective, behavioral and cognitive reactions to violence. Students’ proposed actions to address violence included themes at the national/global level and personal level. Essential attributes from This We Believe and critical expressivism provide insights for writing pedagogy which encourages students to connect their experiences with violence to their own personal thoughts, emotions, and solutions. Some recommended critical expressivist activities educators can include in their work with students are: low-stakes writing focused on experiences with violence, specific readings connected to experiences of violence, journaling about encounters with violence, poetry, and the creation of a research paper on the effects of violence.