My 8 year old daughter asked me this morning why I was crying. I explained to her that I was just very sad about the loss of life in Connecticut. She asked me if I knew those people. I told her I did not, but that there were parents there that were wishing with all their hearts that their kids were with them this morning.
How can I explain to her that I feel pain for them, but cannot even begin to sympathize (thank God) with the level of pain that they are feeling today? I am a teacher and a mother. This story is affecting me in a way that no other has that I can remember. I am feeling so much sadness and so much anger that it is hard to put into words.
The teachers that lost their lives in this tragedy is something else that we haven't even begun to think much about because it is so hard to see past the young lives that were lost. Teachers are being blasted for so much these days. Test scores, accountability, the list goes on. This brings to light what teachers really and truly are. Heroes. There is not one teacher that I can think of that wouldn't willingly put themselves in front of a bullet for their students if this situation were put in front of them. Not just their own children....their students. I'm sure that we are going to hear many stories in the coming days about how these teachers died. My hope is that people begin to realize what we do every day. That we love these children as our own. That we would give our lives to protect them if it came to that. My heart breaks for the parents of the students who died and for the families of the teachers.
How are you going to address this with your students? I have spoken briefly with my principal who is still working out a plan that works for all of our students grades K-5 as they are going to be dealing with this tragedy on very different levels. I would love to hear how other schools are planning to approach this very sensitive topic.
photo: http://www.nytimes.com/
