Excerpt
For the children at Mesa Verde Elementary School, the questions are endless. First, they asked, again and again, why would a stranger kill Christina Green, who had attended school here since kindergarten? Then, some asked quietly, would that man come back to try to shoot them, too? And is it still safe to go to the supermarket?
As classes at Mesa Verde resumed for the first time since the shooting on Saturday that killed six people, including 9-year-old Christina, the school grappled with how to talk about the tragedy with the young students here. Many of them have never known anyone who has died. Now, one of their own had been killed — a loss that was difficult for many adults to deal with.
In the two nights since the shooting, nightmares had already interrupted sleep for many of the children — images of puppies suddenly dying, mothers crossing invisible lines and abruptly disappearing, or somebody coming to kidnap their friends in the middle of the day. The impact was raw and deep. Some children screamed and sobbed inconsolably, while others were stoic, promising their mothers that, yes, they understood, and, no, they did not need to talk.
They brought their stuffed owls and friendship bracelets and flowerpots as offerings for the growing memorial to Christina that lined the fence at the school. And her third-grade classmates hugged one another tightly in the yard before classes began.
I read and posted this article with teared-filled eyes. My question is why do we do this to our children? What is it about human beings that expose children to the horrors and violence of the societies WE make. Whether it's child-soldiers in Africa or shootings in Tucson.
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