School is not a Battlefield
When children go to school, they should not have to worry about certain things. Being shot is one of those; yet, this is the reality for children in America. School should not be a battlefield.
Now that my twins are nearly school age, I recently wrote a letter to them about my wishes for them as they enter that transition.
To My Children,
In a few years, you will be in Kindergarten; I worry about this transition not only for the usual reasons that parents worry about sending their children to school — long days away from home, social changes, growing up — but because you will start to partake in lockdown drills.
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You are too young to understand the implications of these drills, but I know them all too well.
Years before you were born, I worked as a middle school public educator for special needs students. During that time, the Sandy Hook mass shooting occurred, taking the lives of twenty first-graders and six educators. I was in my classroom on lunch break when I opened my computer to the news. Our hearts broke in a new way when we read the news that afternoon. To this day, my heart aches for those innocent children and for the parents and families who’ve…
