How It all started

As horrible as the shootings were in Newtown, it is imperative to understand that there are millions of American youth that live in a state of fear due to the violent nature of their surroundings every day of their lives.  The Monday morning after the shootings in Newtown Connecticut, Mr. Murphy a teacher at a High School on the North West side of Chicago (Humboldt Park, a notoriously gang and violence ridden neighborhood) posed the following questions as a guide for the students to write their journal entry for the week:

 What were your first thoughts, feelings, reactions, etc. to when you heard about the shooting at an elementary school in Newtown Connecticut? Do you have any 6 or 7 year old relatives?
 When was the first time you felt fear of guns, violence or for you and your family’s safety?
 Write about your experiences regarding loss due violence: Family, friends, yourself, etc. Loss doesn’t have
to mean death. It can mean loss of innocence, freedom, childhood, etc.
 What do you think we, as young people and a nation, can do to stop senseless killing?

This was not an easy journal prompt to write or for the students to reflect upon. The teachers worried that the students would feel disconnected, a “well this happens around us all the time” type of attitude. The responses that they received were shocking, and, ultimately, very powerful. They were so impressed at the depth of student’s answers that they felt it was necessary to share them with as many people as possible. They felt that it
was important for teachers in their own building to understand their student’s lives and the issues that face them every day.
It is hard to read. It is hard to imagine any child having to live and cope with experiences such as this. It is often said that students “need to leave their baggage at the door” when they come to school. I have no doubt after reading these journal entries that you will understand what an impossible task that is. We, as educators, need to come to an understanding that this is indeed a REAL problem and something that we must meet head on.