Today I cheered my kids on as they walked out of school
by Sara McGinnis posted in Parenting
My high school was eerily quiet on April 20, 1999. We didn't have cell phones but all the same, word quickly spread that two students at Columbine had murdered 12 of their peers and one teacher.
I was a senior over a thousand miles away, but Columbine affected us the same way 9/11 affected the entire United States two years later. We no longer felt safe. I had conversations with friends that included sarcastic quips like "Hope we can live long enough to graduate," and genuine thoughts like "Something has to change. This is not okay."
Nearly 19 years later (19 years!) my kids, who are in middle school now, practice lockdown drills. We have conversations about the run/hide/fight strategy. I fear they won't survive high school. Nothing has changed and it's disgusting.
Wednesday morning I penned a note for each of my sons that read, "Hell yeah, my child has my permission to walk out of school on 3/14/18. Never again." I felt teary as I signed my name below, emotional about having to do something as ridiculous as support my children in their quest not to be murdered at their desks.
At 10:00 I watched with pride as my sons marched out of their school with their peers. When my elder son shouted "safe" I joined in with the classmates as they chanted "schools" in reply. I tried not to think too much about how in the 19 years since I felt that pit of fear in my stomach, we've done nothing but...
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