Member-only story
SCHOOL SHOOTINGS
My Granddaughter Told Me Last Night She Can Never Go Back to School
She is eight, and she is scared
What do we say to our children once they hear details about a school shooting?
This is the question going through many parents’ minds.
“They’re all going to ask why, and there’s nothing we can say that makes sense. Just because he wanted to murder people today? We can’t say that. I mean, what do we say?”
— Austin, Texas mom Michelle Lambreton
Young children are so innocent.
My daughter says she has no idea how to explain to my 8-year-old granddaughter Hailey why anyone would kill little children.
Why would they shoot them like her dad shoots a deer?
She has seen those deer in the back of his truck.
To Hailey, children should have fun and play, go to school, and obey their parents. They open Birthday and Christmas gifts, swim at the pool, go sledding, and sleep in a warm, cozy bed at night.
Hailey is eight, and the world now feels scary to her.