I just read in the news today about one of my biggest fears--the school shooting in Connecticut. :(
I can't fathom why someone would want to walk into a school and shoot anyone, especially innocent children.
As a parent, it is my biggest fear. You send your children to school everyday thinking they'll be safe and that they'll return to you at the end of the day. But that may not always be the case.
And as an educator, you train for the possibility of such horrible events. You go through your day teaching kids, always with the thought that something like that could happen at any moment, but yet you don't believe it'll ever happen... not in your school, not to your class, not to the students who are akin to being your own children.
I'm thinking back to the days of my high school teaching experience and reliving those few times when we had serious school lockdowns because of various situations happening in or around the school... and the fear and confusion of not knowing what was happening and why we were sitting in the dark, huddled together, with the door locked. Thankfully all of those situations never turned into anything terrible, and we were able to move on with our daily schedule soon after.
What I felt then during those times and what the teachers, students, and community in that Connecticut town must be feeling... tenfold.
My prayers and condolences to them.
I'm confused. I'm saddened.
All I know right now is that I must do what I can everyday and hope that I make a difference in the lives of my kids and my students... and that someday they'll grow up to make right choices.
