Yesterday, 19 elementary school children and two teachers were shot dead at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, by a lone 18-year-old with an assault rifle.
For many of the students in the school for 2nd-4th grade that morning, the end of the school year and the beginning of a carefree summer were on their minds. For 19 of them, summer would never come.
The tragedy recalls the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012, when 20 children were killed, a page in our history with which the country is still grappling. Ten years later, nineteen more young lives have been instantly extinguished, and our nation is traumatized again.
Protecting children is a public issue and a responsibility everyone shares. We all acknowledge children have a right to education and freedom from fear in our schools, and yet the next horrific event could happen at any time, in any town, in any state, including our own.
As a child welfare agency, Shelter, Inc. works with local and federal legislatures to prioritize children’s safety and well-being, and we urge you to join us. If we don’t work together and make the change, 19 more young lives were just lost in vain.
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network developed the following to help children, families, educators, and communities navigate what they see and hear, acknowledge their feelings, and find ways to cope. These resources include:
- Talking to Children about the Shooting
- Helping Youth After a Community Trauma: Tips for Educators(En Español)
- Talking to Children: When Scary Things Happen (En Español)
- Talking to Teens about Violence(En Español)
- Tips for Talking to Students about Violence;
- Coping After Mass Violence:
For Adults.
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