This is a letter from my kids' principal today, 12/14/12 the day of a horrific school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
"Dear Parents,
I know most of you have heard about the terrible tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. Our hearts go out to the entire community there. Please know that our staff will not discuss this with students or bring it up in front of them. They will not hear of this from school. If there is a discussion to be had it will be with family.
Please be assured that we do everything to keep your children safe in in caring hands.
Please take care and give your children an extra hug from me."
And this is why I'm not going to pick up my kids early from school. My kindergartener is safe at home already but I also have a first and second grader. I want to hug and kiss them and give them cookies right now, but they don't need that. What they need is a normal day at school. A normal, safe day playing with their friends. A day that 18 children will never get to experience ever again. My kids get to come home and light the candles for the menorah and their friends get to play in front of and enjoy the beauty of their Christmas tree. There are parents in Connecticut who have gifts under the tree that will never be opened. My heart is breaking for them.
But I will not shed tears in front of my kids when I pick them up. I will try my hardest. That would only scare them. An hour ago I whimpered reading something on Facebook and my 5 year old asked what was wrong. I immediately pulled it together. He has Autism and this would be very confusing for him. His teacher is on medical leave, so school is already an upheaval for him right now, and he doesn't need to know that school can be even more unsafe.
If my kids ask of course I will discuss this topic with them. But I will spare them as many details as possible and let them know that their school is safe. When they come home today the news will be turned off and I will have a marathon of Chopped (my favorite cooking show) on the t.v. Their t.v. will have cartoons. We will celebrate Hanukkah and they will go to bed. And my husband and I will go to bed grateful beyond belief.
Very True! My Niece just entered Fourth Grade this year and is one of the most Popular Kids at her School. Not because she runs with a Cliche or cause she's the most Beautiful. She makes EVERYONE apart of her Group. She goes out of her way to make sure others are treated fairly and has chosen to decline Invitations to other kids Parties because others in her Class were not Invited. I'm Proud of her as she isn't Intimidated by the Peer Pressure that most kids are faced with. I wish that every School could have at least one of her in every Class, leading their fellow Classmates by Example. I lacked "Socialization" in School and if you believe the Stereotype Triple Throws around I should already be Dead either by my own Hand or someone else. When these types of Incidents unfold, I think first of the Shooter. To an Extent, I can Sympathize as that could have been me at one point. However we all have the Ability to make Choices and knowing now what I did than. The Difference between Right & Wrong, Sealed my Future. Not everyone concludes this though and some lose themselves entirely consumed by Anger. Although I'm fairly confident he was screwed with in School, I also believe he had some sort of Mental Health Issue which with the proper Attention may have Diverted all of this. I'm glad he is no longer Tormented, but also Mad that he couldn't fight his Temptation and avoid harming others.
Dive Turn Work, you crack me up.
Triple Canopy, you are a bleeping, ignorant moron. If you are going to hurl insults have the guts to use your own name you coward.
Autism does not equal intellectual disability. I think the jury is out on whether the person who killed all of those innocent and blameless children and teachers was in crisis ("snapped") or sociopathic or something else. To assume you know otherwise about his history or motivation is wrong. Thank you for your writing, Charlotte, and hug your kids again for me.
I won't claim to understand anything about the weapons you've described, but I think you have the right idea about limiting the clip size (whatever it takes to reduce the lethality of the weapon). Interesting that there was a knife attack at a school in China the same morning ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-20723910 ) which killed NONE of the children who were attacked. Chris N, any time there is ever a deranged person with a firearm, anything that slows the process down (like changing a clip) can have an impact and maybe save a life. So anyway, I'd say you've both made a good argument for tightening up gun control laws on these fronts. I'd also say that tightening up gun show loopholes and reducing ease of access to firearms, requiring firearms to be locked are other ways to maintain second amendment freedoms while increasing safety. In the field of public health, we can do much better to include gun safety as part of a routine health visit (in my practice, we do this.) and educate where needed. Education about locking guns and removing ammo, etc. can make a difference too. OK, I'm getting off my soapbox. I know this was not what you intended with your blog, Charlotte, but I think there are some good points being made here (though also some really insesitive comments!).
Are you assuming that all minority children killed by gunfire are, "drug dealers and ghetto dwelling gang bangers"? There are innocent kindergarten kids, who are not drug dealers or gang bangers, being shot and killed in the "inner city" you say I "bemoan". How is it those kindergartners ( or 1st graders, 2nd graders, etc......) aren't deserving of our outrage just as the children in CT are? As a society we have become accustomed to hearing about children in the "inner city" being killed; we even tell ourselves, just as you did, that they are some how responsible for being shot and killed, it's their fault, they live in a "ghetto" or an area known for gang violence and drug deals. It's not until it happens, in mass, in a community that is perceived safe, where the troubles of the world don't go that we mourn, get outraged and angry, ask how does this happen? Twenty murdered children in Newtown is a nightmare no one should know-as an educator it is unimagineable, I hope that I never have to know what I would do in that situation, if I would step up with the same courage as the staff at Sandy Hook did. Whether it is twenty innocent lives taken all at once or over a period of months or a year the call for an end to gun violence should be the same. As for Obama being my president, do you mean because you assume I voted for him or because you assume I am the same race as him? Either way, I'm proud to call him my president.
You are awesome, your kids are cute, and you are better than the troglodyte who calls him/herself Triple Canopy.