I don't have answers and I can see so much truth in both sides. I feel like both sides are so far apart that neither will take a moment to think about the truth that each has to offer. If we take a step towards the middle both sides feel that is relenting completely. I also think that when both the right and the left use this situation to try and justify their opinions on gun control other major factors get over looked and ignored.
I read an article this morning giving some surface details about what happened. At one point they showed the text messages that the students were sending to their parents while this horrific tragedy unfolded. I completely lost it because it reminded me so much of my own teenager and pain I felt for these parents as they lived through what I can only imagine as my worst nightmare. Texts that said things like there is a shooter, I heard gun shots, I love you, I'm scared, thank you for everything you did for me, still bring me to tears just repeating them. I also read that the school was full of unanswered phones ringing as parents prayed and desperately tried to reach their precious children.
My own daughter texts me from school now and then asking about after school plans or for me to check something. This past fall there was a bomb threat and many parents refused to send their children to school the next day even though the school took every precautionary measure possible to ensure their safety. Although fairly certain it was a hoax to get school canceled we let Emily decide whether she wanted to go or stay home. She chose to go to school even though many of her friends did not. One mom told me that she would never forgive herself if something happened and the risk was to great for one day of school before break. I've never prayed so hard for her safety at school as I did that day and looking back maybe we should have kept her home too.
19 years ago in February a friend took his own life and changed mine forever. It seems to me that Feb is one of the hardest months for everyone but especially anyone that suffers from depression. Mental illness and suicide is more prevalent than ever and happening in children younger and younger. My sister, a high school counselor, has several students that are currently hospitalized after either attempting have having thoughts. With social media on the rise I feel that it hyperboles the already difficult experience of middle school and high school. There have been so many experts point to it as a direct link to the increase in students' struggles with mental illness.
As a mom one of the most difficult question that comes to mind when tragedy like this strikes is how do we keep our children safe? This is when my liberal friends look at me like I have two heads but here is my truth. We raise our children to be successful in this lifetime but most importantly we raise them to be saints and to enter the Kingdom of Heaven first and foremost. We anchor them as disciples of Christ and teach them love, kindness, and charity.
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