GREENSBORO, N.C. — A Tennessee community is grieving the deaths of three children and three staff members who were shot at Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, yesterday. Authorities shot and killed the armed suspect in the school lobby.
According to Education Week, there have been 13 school shootings this year. As much as we want to shield children from such horrors, we must discuss it with them.
You have to be direct and tactful when talking about school shootings. You want your child’s full attention, so ensure the TV is off and the phones are away. Tell your children that you want to talk about a situation that happened at an elementary school.
If your child is school-aged, they may already know. Ask them if they heard about a school shooting. If yes, ask them what they know and how they feel about it because their answer will lead the conversation. If your child hasn’t heard about the school shooting, you can explain that a shooter killed three children and three adults who worked there.
Here are a few tips for managing the conversation with your child. Elementary-age children want reassurance that they’re safe and their family is safe. Talk about ways that their school keeps the students safe. Older children, such as tweens and teens, want to have more in-depth conversations about details of the shooting, gun violence, and gun safety reform. As their parent, you decide what you want your children to know. Remember that if you try to shield them, more than likely, they’ll get the story from their friends and news stories.
As a parent, it’s frightening to think about something happening to your child. You want to protect them at all costs. It’s scarier when something can happen that’s out of your control. It’s important to process your feelings before talking to your children because you’ll be more in control of yourself, which is important for your children’s stress management. It’s okay to show controlled emotions with your children. Gun violence at school is scary. Helping your children manage their feelings is a life skill.
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