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It’s August and with that comes back to school everything.
Back to school sales, school orientations, teacher meetings, new crayons, colored pencils and more than likely a few new friends for my kids.
My oldest will be in grade 4, and my youngest in grade 1 and up until this year my fears generally went something like this:
What if they have an accident, did I remember to send extra clothes?
What if someone picks on them? Will they know how to stand up for themselves?
What if they get their feelings hurt, and want to cry and can’t because of their peers?
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This year my newest and loudest worry is:
What if I get a call that it was my kid’s school this year that experienced a shooting?
This worry is not on my mind because my children’s school doesn’t do all they can with security measures, or because I worry about the community that surrounds the school. On the contrary, I feel extremely secure with my children’s school because I love it. I love the staff and the principal. I love the curriculum, and the environment and the kids. It’s indeed a fantastic school, and so far it has beyond exceeded my expectations in education, stability, and love for my children.
But didn’t every other parent who received this call this last year feel that way about their child’s school?
If they had any inclination of what lay ahead those days, don’t you believe as I believe they wouldn’t have sent them?
I know I wouldn’t.
We teach our children not to live in fear, but the greatest fear a parent has is always that fate will separate them from their child forever. How do we overcome this fear as we approach back to school time?
I’m not a protesting mother; perhaps I should be?
I believe in our right to Keep and Bear Arms, I do.
But I have children who attend school in America.
An America that as of this Business Insider Article published in June of 2018 states has experienced 154 mass shootings so far in 2018.
My children attend a school in America where according to CNN in this article from May of 2018 has averaged one school shooting PER WEEK.
Per Week.
I know some will say “But some of those were accidental…”
Was someone injured? Was someone killed? Then it still counts.
If someone calls to say that they found a weapon on the property of their child’s school and that it injures someone, it is still a tragedy. It is still fear-invoking.
So what do we do?
I will pray. I will ask every praying parent to pray for the safety of America’s children during this school year and as we head back to school.
I will pray for our election, and the elected officials we put into office before the end of the year.
To find a solution. A solution; one that saves more lives than takes them.
I will pray for my children’s school, and their friend’s school and their families at school.
And I know many will say “Praying is inaction. Praying doesn’t stop bullets. DO MORE!”
You’re right; I should do more. We all should do more. I am fearful, and I am writing this because there are brains out there much stronger, and smarter than mine that I am confident can come up with a solution. So that they may hear me, and hear my fears and understand that they are real.
Every week in the 2018 (January-June) school year a school experienced gunfire.
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We need to talk; we need to discuss. We as a nation of mothers and fathers and children need to become a nation of empathy. We need to do this BEFORE it happens again.
We need to look each other in the eyes and ask the hard question of “Why do they feel the way they feel, and how can we cross lines and save lives?”
Ultimately, that’s all anyone wants to do. Save lives.
So what will we do this year?
I am a mother, and I am scared, but I have courage and faith that there is a solution.
Until then, know this; your child is my child.
-Lacy Estelle
If you get that call this year, then I got that call this year.
I feel the pain that you feel. I cry when I hear the news because my heart breaks for the parents getting that call. Every time, it tears in half.
Because I can’t wrap you in a hug across our country, I will scream through this that my fear and my faith reaches you. My heart mourns with you.
For all of us.
Until there is a solution, there will not be a day into this school year that I am not fearful for every child.
So please, take action and listen with your heart those of you doing more than praying.
We need action. The only action that can solve this fear is one fueled by empathy.
