The tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut at the Sandy Hook Elementary School has been in the hearts and minds of the nation this last week, and in watching all the news coverage and parts of the memorial service I felt many things, primarily horror and pain for the families involved. I thought about being a parent in that situation, and how on earth you could explain to your child what had happened to their friends. I thought about the teachers killed protecting their students, and how they remained calm enough in the face of danger to be heroes for the ones they loved. I thought of the children themselves, and how many years it will take for their nightmares to quiet and life to normalize, or if it ever will.
My thoughts also turned inwards, as thoughts tend to do when one is faced with an event like this. As a society I think we search for ways to make something so enormous and unfathomable personal--relatable enough to be felt, identifiable enough to be real. This week I thought a lot about my plans post-graduation, and how I'd really like to get some experience in counseling, to see if that is where my future career lies. I have a particular interest in school counseling, not just because I see a lot of need in that area but because in the last couple years I've worked with a lot of high school kids who could use extra support and guidance as they navigate growing up.
There was a point this week when it finally hit me: when a school experiences something like Sandy Hook, who ends up being one of the first responders in the aftermath? The school counselors.
How on earth do you prepare for something like that? How do you learn what to say, how to help? Where does the strength come from to be able to relive the event again and again through the eyes and stories of the kids and families that walk through your door?
So many people want to sensationalize this story for their own purposes--legislature for tighter gun laws, higher viewership for news stations, the ability to point fingers and stir up wounds--when really, this is a story of humanity that needs to stay human. Whatever happens next, whatever laws get debated, there is still a shattered community that needs to heal, and there are people at work to heal it. The heroes of Newtown, the police, the care-givers, the counselors, the responders...these are the people who deserve attention in the news. These are the ones who take on the weight of worlds.
The next few weeks are going to be hell for that town--God bless them and strengthen them all.
*Photo by Alex Brandon, of the American flags at the Washington Monument lowered to half-mast last Friday to commemorate Sandy Hook*
