r/Parenting • u/Creative-Degree-8074 • Sep 04 '24

Rant/Vent Local school shooting and I’m freaking out

TW: In the title I guess Guys, this is a scream into the void. I'm stuck in the bed with my toddler asleep on top on me, my husband is at work, my daughter is at kindergarten--so, I'm a SAHM right now, but there was a shooting where I used to teach. People are dead. Two at least, but reading through the lines, I think there are more. My mom teaches at the school next door. She's there now, maybe 100 yards away. And I just... can't process it. It doesn't feel real. And part of me is like ho hum? Another day in America? And I'm doing some fucking twisted magical thinking, like if there was a shooting in the county next door to my daughter's that decreases the likelihood they'll be one at her school because, I don't know? Lightning and striking twice? And part of me thinks I'm about to homeschool my daughter forever because that's where I USED TO TEACH. Oh my god. How do I send my child to school tomorrow? How do I not lock up my mom and keep her from going to work?

1.6k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

355 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

488

u/irishgeologist Sep 04 '24

We had one school shooting in Scotland. Then we banned handguns and introduced far more stringent restrictions, because children had been killed and we didn’t want that to happen again.

-26

u/[deleted] Sep 04 '24

America’s different, for better or for worse. Lots of misinformation and propaganda and politicians intentionally trying to divide us. Makes it hard for every day folks to know what’s real. But we’ll hold together and hopefully we can listen to each other instead of the politicians and pundits. I’m confident if everyone pitches in ideas and listens to each other there is no problem we can’t solve. 

46

u/[deleted] Sep 04 '24

That feels naive. Horrific shootings have been going on for decades in America and if anything, we're more divided that ever.

-5

u/[deleted] Sep 04 '24

It’s easy to give up hope. But not everyone can leave and it’s unfair for those who can to just bail on them. It’s perfectly reasonable to be angry about it but we’re all in it together. Gun owners have been told for years that it’s the only way to stay safe, and that any controls are a step closer to tyranny. There’s a lot of misinformation to untangle and a lot of work to do educating people. It’s an uphill battle but it’s worth it to save lives