Finding The Words To Discuss The Massacre

By SheSpeaksTeam Dec 17, 2012

We know that the SheSpeaks community is feeling as heartbroken and confused as we are by the senseless massacre in Newtown, Connecticut on Friday.

As more details are shared about the horrific events of Friday morning in Sandy Hook Elementary School, it does not get easier to make sense of what just impacted that community. Our concerned nation is filled with questions.

Our hearts are filled with sadness as we think about the lives that were taken at such a young and tender age, and those heroic teachers who tried to defend their innocence and put the lives of the children first. The community of Newtown must now grieve for the significant loss of their children and loved ones, but also work hard to restore the spirit, faith and hope that has been affected by one senseless act.

We do not have answers for what occurred, but we know the voices of the SheSpeaks community are thoughtful, strong and heartfelt. In an effort to help us all come to terms with the devastating effects of Friday, please feel open to share those voices here and we hope that your comments and blog posts can bring comfort and support to others as we all try to process and explain to ourselves and our families what just happened.

(please paste below or email fiona@shespeaks.com if you'd like to add your blog post to this list)

Make a Comment

Comments

by amanda7536 | RUTLAND, VT

Jan 12, 2013

I dont have children, but i do have two little bothers, one is 3 so he isnt in school yet and one is 5 and in Kindergarden. My mom has kept them completely shielded from it. I dont know if its the best thing to do, but i do feel they are too yound to understand anyways.

by MamaTutu | Waterbury, CT

Jan 03, 2013

My oldest is in kindergarten and at least at home, I have been able to shield her from what has happened and I know that the school has been doing a very good job at keeping things as age appropriate as possible. She did notice a flag flying half-staff once and we simply said it was because something bad had happened, it is over, but we fly the flag half-staff out of respect. That seemed to satisfy any curiosity she had. I don't think she knows what happened, but we did go over how important it is to follow the rules and listen to your teachers especially in an emergency situation. The Monday after, she came home telling us how they practiced hiding in the bathroom and my heart sank, but again I still don't think she knows anything about the why.

by didama | MAPLEWOOD, NJ

Dec 17, 2012

Thanks for this post. I have elementary school age children. I didn't know where to start with them to explain this horrible tragedy. I spoke with a few other parents and we were all at a loss for how to talk with our children about this. We ended up reassuring them that they were safe and left it at that.

More stories like this