Skip to main content

After a bit of time...


Months ago, after watching the news about the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, I was definitely shaken up. I was brokenhearted when I learned that the principle heard the gunshots and ran out unarmed to protect the kids. I was deeply saddened to see the reports of the children ending their brief lives in the classrooms. Then, other reports began to emerge—ones of heroic teachers helping their class escape the bedlam. Then there were other inspiring reports of teachers having the presence of mind to barricade themselves with their class. These brave teachers kept the children calm, insisting that the “good guys” would come and kept their spirits up by singing songs.
 Since I’m a parent, the instant I heard of this horrible news, I’m not ashamed to say I had to fight the overwhelming urge to hold my son out of school the next day.  Try as I might, this nagging question “What if this happened to my child?” scratched and clawed at my brain, insisting on being answered.
I forced myself to think logically. It would do none of us good to let this irrational impulse to take over. With a knot in my stomach, I had to admit I could not be with my son 24/7, no matter how much I want to be.  Facing this irrefutable truth made me remember his teachers throughout his years at school. As I took stock, I came to realize that the majority of his teachers treated him with extreme kindness. In Middle School, both Mrs L and Ms M treated him like he was part of their family. Ms B loved his sense of humor that science became his favorite subject. Now in High School, his teachers all know him and appreciate him in their classes and miss him when he’s absent.  Mr D wrote a wonderful recommendation letter for him. In a parent/teacher conference Mrs B when introduced to me immediately said he was one of her favorite students.
Would any one of them risk life and limb to protect him, like the brave souls from Sandy Hook Elementary faculty?  I feverously hope and pray we won’t be faced with that challenge.  However, I can definitely take comfort by knowing he is a valued member of their classes and when I’m not there, he is well taken care of. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Negative energy in pages

Have you read a book that affected you? I remember a few years back a co-worker had this glossy book at her desk. I looked at its cover, which I found curious. It depicted a calming beach scene with a shark fin prominently in the ocean distance. The novelty of this book was it contained sayings that at first appear positive, for instance “If at first you don’t succeed…” and end it with negative words “…don’t waste your energy trying again.” As I flipped through the pages, I found the sayings amusing, clever and stinging. She let me borrow it so I could read it cover to cover. When I took it home and read a few pages, I began to feel an emotionally heaviness fall upon me. Generally speaking, I see myself as an optimist—I try not to let too many things get me down. However,  after reading a few pages of this book, a dark cloud of depression loomed over me. I decided to quit reading the book—it wasn’t like I was under any obligation to finish it! The very next day, I gla...
1 comment
Read more

A touch of Minx

A few months ago, I, along with everyone else, fell in love with the movie Inside Out .  I also appreciated that one of the main story points was it is  okay to feel sad, sometimes it’s an emotion that cannot be avoided. It was nice to see a movie not sugar-coat tough emotions and show that memories can be shaded with a blend of feelings. I thought the writers were so clever to materialize emotions into characters that kids could understand. Again, I was overwhelmed by their inventiveness that there are little beings living in the main character’s brain. As I watched these colorful characters on the screen, I had a nagging reminder of a comic strip I had read growing up. It was in the British  comic book called The Beano .  Not to be confused with the natural remedy .  The Beano comic book has been going strong for over 60 years in Great Britain. When I arrived home, I looked up these characters. The cast that started me doing comparisons was The Numskulls ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lessons from Teachers

Many times when people talk about the teachers they have encountered in their schools, usually the lessons have been of the traditional sort.   A teacher has done or said something inspiring that has changed their lives for the better.   Actually, I have had a teacher show a negative trait that was a positive life lesson to me.   She was my seventh grade teacher.   She was a very large woman—she had to make her own clothes to fit her.   Not only was her physique large, but also her personality.   She was a very aggressive and no-nonsense woman.     “You can’t get away with anything in Miss C class!”   was the comment we heard from previous teachers and older students.   When she hosted detention, she made a sign to put on the clock that read: “Time passes—will you?”             Being in her class, she made it very clear that she was the boss.   Now, most of the time, she wa...
1 comment
Read more