OnlineBookClub.org

I think that because Rasha was under a lot of stress, she was not thinking clearly, so this caused her to make the bad decision of locking the shooter inside of the classroom with the kids. This does sound like something that could happen in real life, because many people do make poor choices when they are under a great deal of stress. As far as her being a hero, this was purely by accident. It just so happens that the shooter did not kill any more kids, but he could have killed all of them and then she wouldn't have been seen as a hero anymore.

Rasha made a heroic decision and saved many lives. In times of crisis you react - hesitation can get people killed. She didn't run away, she acted. It's easy to say she put innocent children's lives in danger, but imagine what could have happened had she not locked him in that classroom. If I had to lose my job for saving lives, I'd do it over and over again.

In our society, generally, we value everyone's life. We're not supposed to sacrifice innocent lives for the greater good. If your kid was in that room when she locked the door, would you feel it was the right thing to do?

To think about the situation for a second, if the killer was distracted in that one room, then the shots would have signaled for those elsewhere to either get out or lock the door of the room they were in so the killer couldn't reach them next. But Rasha was in the hallway, outside the classroom. She was very likely the first victim after the gunman left the room. It's hard for me to see it any other way than she was trying to save herself, and she justified the situation to justify her decision to sacrifice potential victims.

When I read about Rasha’s actions, I didn’t agree with her choice. It seemed to trap the children that were in the same room with the shooter. It ultimately worked out in that situation but it seemed way too risky to trap the children in the room like that. Since The children were saved in the book, it seemed like the correct choice and she was a hero, but it could have easily worked out differently.

I have to agree that this was a really tough choice. But in the same situation, I think I'd want to keep the shooter contained. She really had no way of knowing what the shooter would do next. Who would? But keeping him in one place would contain the collateral damage. A hard choice, a very hard choice!

I think Rasha's choice was a risky decision. Anything could have happened.

By slamming the door and then locking it, she got his attention and he stopped shooting the students and started shooting at the door, to get out. This distracted him and, because he had his back to the window while he was shooting at the door, the officer was able to shoot and kill him. I think she did the right thing.

I think this was a split-second decision for Rasha, and she made the best decision she could have at the time. Who knows what any of us would do in that situation.

She was a humble school teacher, not a superhero that could attack the shooter and hogtie him...

She knew the door would lock from the outside, and if she slammed it his attention would be diverted away from the children and to the door. And, it worked out as she expected...he shot at the lock of the door and not the kids in the room.

A hard choice no matter what. I get both sides where it’s ridiculous to lock him in with a classroom full of children, but at the same time trying to reduce the number of casualties could make sense too. It’s a terrible situation to be in no matter what and I think the author just wrote the situation as he thought it should go.

I really thought it was an odd choice. As a teacher myself, I don't know what I would have done in that situation, but I wouldn't lock a shooter in with kids. In the real world there would have been a lockdown right away and doors would have been locked and procedures followed. We practice this once a quarter at our school. I know the author wrote in that someone commented that the door should have been locked in the first place. I know that is common practice in our district and you can even get dinged for not having your door locked during your observations.

As a prior school teacher I can not imagine doing what Rasha did. I don't think I would be able to lock innocent children in a room with a shooter even if it would have protected other people in the building. I understand how it could be perceived as a choice that would keep others safe but I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for the loss of the other classroom children.

I think she had to make an exceptionally difficult decision during the school shooting. Based on facts, she saved more people by locking the shooter in the room, even if it meant the children in that room were in danger (luckily it did not come to that). These situations are very emotional though, so hard to reason with solely facts and numbers of lives lost/saved.

Not sure what any of us would do in a similar situation. Teachers are trained to reduce the risk to save children. This generally means fighting the shooter, however, the decision to lock him inside with children is not something we would like to think about. If that decision means saving other lives it is something that has to be done. Obviously, all children should be saved, but wouldn’t necessarily happen. Rasha’s decision resonates with people because it is NOT something we would want to be faced with!

I think she kept a very level head in the midst of a very dangerous situation. Her thought process was quick and efficient and she acted upon it immediately. I think she was very brave and was trying to stop the shooter in the most logical way possible and with the fewest fatalities possible. I highly doubt that I could have reacted so well in a similar situation.

She definitely made the right decision, in my opinion. However, I believe that trying to do that in a crisis would be very difficult. Nobody wants to live with the regret of having taken lives.