Letter from Superintendent Sue Walker
Saturday, December 15, 2012
December 14, 2012
RE: Response to Connecticut School Shootings
Dear Shoreline Schools families:
On behalf of Shoreline Schools, our hearts go out to the community of Newtown, Connecticut, and especially to the staff, students and families of Sandy Hook Elementary School. It’s difficult to comprehend the motivation for the horrific attack that took place this morning.
We have worked hard over the past few years to develop our building emergency preparedness plans. We have practiced and trained to respond with confidence. Our plans have been developed in coordination with our local police and fire departments. In short, we have prepared extensively. Emergency Response Information flip charts are posted in common areas and classrooms across the District.
Nevertheless, the random nature of a sudden mass shooting can make us feel very vulnerable, particularly when innocent, vulnerable children are targeted. As we try to cope with this reality, we can and must help our children cope.
Our school counselors and family advocates remind us that as caring adults, we can make the difference between being overwhelmed by circumstances we cannot control and developing critical life-long emotional and coping skills. Here are a few suggestions for helping to make students feel safe:
- Turn off or monitor the television. Endless news programs are likely to heighten anxiety, and young children cannot distinguish between images on television and their personal reality.
- Maintain a normal routine.
- Stick to facts. Answer questions factually.
- Remember to filter what you say to a child. Avoid graphic details.
- Remain calm and reassuring. Children take their cues from their parents and adults.
- Be optimistic.
- Be a good listener and observer. Pay attention to changes in behavior.
- Take care of yourself. You are better able to help your students if you are coping well. If you are anxious or upset, your students are more likely to be so as well.
The safety of our students and staff is our highest priority. We are in communication with our local police departments and they will be highly visible in the area of our schools today. It takes parents, students, staff and community working together to keep our schools safe places to learn.
Thank you for your continuing support of our schools.
Sincerely,
Sue Walker, Superintendent
Posts
4 comments:
The incident in Connecticut is tragic, but why increase the visibility of the local police in Shoreline? There is no basis for heightened security measures here, and it sends the wrong and potentially harmful message to students, parents, and society at large. So does the over-reaction at all levels of government. All of it is symbolic and political and has nothing to do with the real ills of this country. Shame on all of you for exploiting this senseless tragedy to advance our nation yet one step closer to a police state. If you want to be useful, deal with the systemic problem (and your partial culpability), and not its incidental manifestation.
This kind of reaction by our institutions of government is a recurring pattern, and quite effective:
http://freedombeacon.org/2011/10/tyranny-and-crisis-the-early-years-of-the-american-republic/
If you were thinking of kids rather than your own anti-government paranoia, you might realize that many kids would see the visible police presence as reassuring, that someone is there to keep them safe.
"Maintain a normal routine."
"Remain calm and reassuring. Kids take their cues from their parents and adults."
"If you are anxious or upset, your students are more likely to be so as well."
These are all good tips, and completely inconsistent with a decision to increase police presence 3000 miles from the scene of the crime.
Anti-government? We absolutely need government. Good government. Limited government. It's a no-brainer.
Post a Comment