I don't have any new photographs to share with you today. With the hustle and bustle of preparing for the holidays, I haven't taken the camera out much the past few weeks. And that's okay. Because I want to share something different with you today anyway. I posted the following on my personal blog Saturday, but wanted to share it again because I know that many of you, like me, struggled with sending your children back to school this morning.
There are no words to express the depth of my sadness over what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary yesterday. If I dwell on it for more than a moment, the tears start to flow. If Facebook is any indication, my gut reaction was the same as many other parents. More than a few questioned whether they could trust other people with their children anymore. Many had a sudden urge to homeschool. Right now, I imagine nearly every parent in America is wondering if the time has finally come to lock their children up at home and throw away the key.
But when I got up this morning and read some of the reports that are emerging of heroic teachers who did everything they could to save the lives of their students, it dawned on me very quickly that I will, in fact, be sending my children back to school on Monday. Because there are still people in this world I trust with my children. And many of them are teachers.
I realized, as a began a frantic search through my photo archives this morning, hoping to find photos of all of my children's teachers, past and present, that with rare exception--every one of them would have done exactly what the teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary did.
Teachers who huddled with their students in bathrooms and closets, whispering words of comfort to frightened children. Telling them they loved them and that everything was going to be okay. Teachers like 27 year-old Victoria Soto, who died shielding her students from the gunman as she tried to usher them into a closet.
Those teachers did for those children exactly what I, as a mother, would have done for my own kids. And I believe that every one of my children's teachers would have done the same thing. I wish, right now, that I had a picture of every single teacher my kids have ever had. Because if you could see them with my kids, maybe you could catch a glimpse, however small, of how much they care about them. Love them even. Not as much as I do, of course. Not even close. But enough that I am willing to put my children's lives in their hands for 6-7 hours a day, 5 days a week, 9 months out of the year.
If the events of 2012 are any indication, our children are in danger of being shot not only at school, but at church, the mall, the movies, and just walking down the sidewalk. And as my children get older, I realize that many of these places are places they will be going without me. And although locking them up and throwing away the key is a tempting solution for keeping them safe, it is not a practical solution.
So I am filled with gratitude today as I realize that of all the places in an often dark and unsafe world where my children will venture without my protection and, heaven forbid, fall into harm's way, school is a place where they are almost certain to be in the hands of loving, caring adults who will do everything in their power to protect them and keep them safe.
The love and concern of a caring adult, someone other than a parent, is a powerful force in the life of a child. I cannot measure the impact it has had on my own children, but I suspect it has been great, judging by the things I hear about their teachers as we drive home from school, or as we chat about the day around the dinner table.
I assure you, I have some opinions about how we could have prevented the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary and what we need to do to make sure it never happens again. Including giving up some of our guns and some of our misconceptions about the mentally ill. But as horrific and heartbreaking as the events in Connecticut are, the influence of marvelous, caring teachers in my children's lives is not on the list of things I am willing to give up just yet.
Perhaps you've seen the sentiment from Fred Rogers that's been makings it's way around Facebook the last few days.
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers - so many caring people in this world.”
The teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary were most definitely helping, even before the first responders were on the scene, and certainly before the television crews showed up to cover their heroic deeds. We may never really know the many ways they risked their lives to help children that day. Which is one of the reasons I won't be locking my children up or homeschooling them any time soon, at least not because of what happened in Connecticut.
I do not know, I cannot even fathom, what leads someone to kill 26 people, 20 of them children. Most of all, I cannot imagine the anguish that the families of the victims are feeling, or the depth of faith that is required for them to simply carry on.
This is what I do know. That for reasons I don't always understand, horrible, evil things happen to good people, but it doesn't mean that God doesn't love His children. I know that somehow, in ways I also do not understand, Jesus Christ can help people heal from even the most terrible grief and loss. I know that prayer is real and powerful, and that our prayers on behalf of the people of Newtown, Connecticut will somehow be felt and bring a measure of peace, however small. I know, as Mr. Rogers said, that there are still caring people in the world--lots and lots of them.
And I know that when I walk through the halls of my children's schools and look for the helpers, I will find them.
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