• During Domestic Violence Awareness Month, very few people’s first thoughts are about teachers. They should be.I spent more than 30 years in the classroom as a teacher and I saw how domestic violence intruded on the classroom in so many different ways.

• As a teacher, I especially think about the troubling link between domestic violence and gun violence. Nearly 70 percent of mass shootings involve a perpetrator with a history of domestic violence or family violence, according to a recent study.

• Fortunately, we have more tools to intervene than ever before. Unfortunately, teachers are often left out of the loop.

• …as a teacher, I never received training about how these provisions, which are called “Extreme Risk Protection Orders,” work. That’s a significant gap that should be addressed. As teachers, we wear so many hats – not just educators, – we’re also unofficial clinicians and advisers.

• …we should be going beyond that to make sure teachers are aware of “Extreme Risk Protection Orders,” which are now on the books in 21 states and the District of Columbia. Because too often, the public is not aware of these important tools.

• …we can be critical in helping to educate the community about these tools. When I think back to a mother who sat across from me in school who was visibly in crisis, or even a coworker who was struggling, I wish I had known about these provisions so that I could have been a better advocate for a struggling parent.

• This work can go beyond educating teachers. Our teacher lounge could have had a fact sheet to share basic information about Connecticut’s Red Flag law, just like it had a poster with the usual labor law protections. And the information could be made available at parent-teacher conferences.

• Red Flag laws are the first step. Now, we must make sure the public knows about them. Teachers are a natural answer.

Abbey Clements is executive director and co-founder of Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence. She is a survivor teacher of the Sandy Hook School tragedy in 2012, and an elementary educator for more than 30 years. 

Read the full story here: https://ctmirror.org/2025/10/28/teachers-are-key-in-the-fight-against-domestic-violence/