School shootings

A moment of long pause and reflection comes over me as I watch the words scroll across the small video screen imbedded in the airplane seat: Shooting in Ohio school. Another shooting in an American high school.

I find this so hard to take. Not just because I have my own child to think about, but because the whole concept is so unthinkable. Children killing children. I want to scream. I wish I could rewind it and stop the words from coming, wish I could stop this pain and this loss of innocence. It is very hard to find the words to write because I am sick down to the core of myself with despair. Maybe it should not come as a shock - there have been at least a dozen shooting in the past decade, but each one, no matter where they occur, is like a dagger to the heart of every parent.

How could this happen to our kids? Why? I am afraid to think of the answers.

I read an excerpt from a book called The Bully Society, and I wonder if that is a concept we are teaching our children, that bullying and teasing is a natural part of growing up. I wonder if the promotion of individualism sometimes leaves community and socialization behind. In all our strivings to create the perfect life for our children - perfect neighborhoods, good schools, nice things...sometimes we lose track of the most important thing of all - spending time with our children. Reminding them of their intrinsic worth. Loving our children as if they are all that matters in the universe, because they are. They all are. I worry about an infection of cultural unhappiness that I see around me, and I wonder if it contributes to the unhappiness rampant in children.

As I struggle to make sense of this situation, I worry about where I will send my son to school. Or how I will drop him off at school knowing these things. And I worry about children who are not feeling loved at home, and who are not being accepted at school. I don't know how to affect each and every one of them, but I wish that I could. I wish I could wrap my arms around the hearts of every child in the world and let them all be loved. I hope in some small way, we can all contribute to this mission, and we can all reverse this epidemic, bringing safety and kindness and acceptance back into our schools and our kids' lives.