On May 24, 2022, a gunman killed nineteen kids and two teachers and wounded seventeen others at Robb Elementary School in Uvalda, TX. His violent act left parents and children across America feeling scared. Fortunately, parents are still the greatest influence in their children’s lives. Consequently, how we as parents handle this trajedy will impact our kids. We should not deny or magnify the incident. Good parents answer the questions their children ask as honestly as possible. If a child asks if something like this is going to happen at their school, the parent should tell him/her that it is highly unlikely because there are thousands of schools in America that are safe places for children to attend.
Also, parents should not allow themselves to be consummed by what happened in Texas. They need to make their lives as normal as possible, expecially when they are with their kids. Instead of reliving the horrible happening by repeatedly tuning into the TV, they need to try to protect their children from the psychological consequences by treating it as one incident. Because they are the greatest influence in their kids lives, their children are paying close attention to them. How the parents are reacting to the trajedy is teaching their offspring how they should feel about it.
An hour spent together, as a family, is the most important hour in the day. Psychologically speaking, it matters not if the food comes from a fast food chain, door dash or Mom’s loving hands. What matters is every member of the family is engaged in the conversation. Good questions to ask are: What was the best thing that happened in your life today and what was the worst? Doing this on a daily basis gives everyone an opportunity to express their feelings and keeps the lines of communication open.
Deborah Day Poor, LCSW 