School Shootings

At approx 10:45 this morning a 15 year old boy was in the cafeteria his high school and was "allegedly" being bullied by a 17 year old student. The younger student walked out of the cafeteria and returned with a shotgun. He shot the other boy in the back and was then held by a guidance counselor as he discharged 3 additional shots into the ceiling. No other students were shot. The 17 yo is in serious condition at a local hospital. And the shooter is in police custody. How do you prepare your children for something like this? How do you help them process it? Today was only the first day of classes. Many parents are not going to be eager to send their children back tomorrow. And many students won't want to go back. But this is the world we now live in. Children have access to weapons of all kinds. And they have feelings and emotions they don't know how to process. And some of the younger ones may not even have a serious understanding of the finality of death and the consequences that come with shooting people. So what do we do?

People who live in states that get earthquakes have earthquake drills teaching kids to stand in doorways or under desks (though lets be honest, if its bad the desk probably won't be that effective but its better than nothing), In places where they have tornadoes, kids are taught to go to an interior room and or the lower level or basement area of wherever they are and cover with pillows, blankets and take a flashlight. Thanks to the events of Columbine and the school shootings that followed, we now have something new to prepare our children for only it clearly isn't specific to a region. There is no way to know if a student at your child's school has reached the point where they may bring a weapon to school with the intent of shooting another student. Possibly your student. I know most parents don't want to think their kid is a bully any more than they want to think their kid has it in them to shoot anyone but as many parents have found out their child has it in them. How are our children supposed to react when they realize a classmate is standing two feet from them with a shotgun? Some children will instinctively RUN and other will be rooted to the floor, their feet feeling like lead. And there are others who may do something. It may be helping other students get out or it may be trying to stop the person with a gun. 

So again I ask, what do we do? We can send our kids to school with cell phones "for emergencies" but is that enough? And what about the teachers? How are they expected to react? How do they get these kids through these events? How do they get themselves up tomorrow morning?

I can't physically go comfort these people. I can pray for them. And I ask that you do the same. Keep this school in your prayers. From the janitors and maintenance staff to the school board trying to figure out how to continue the school year that got off to such a difficult start!
If you'd like to read about it - click here