With the recent tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, it is only natural for parents’ worries and stress to increase after such a horrific, unnecessary and gut-wrenching event.
Sending our children to school following such an incident can be quite challenging, testing our mental health while also doing its damage in the form of stress and worries But Waynesboro Public Schools say they are doing their best to keep our children safe, they have a renewed desire to work to make our schools as safe and secure as possible, and they are committed to continuing.
The schools released a letter from Superintendent Jeff Cassell as we now enter the summer and with the 2022-23 school year not too far off, and he shared how things stand and what is to come.
“Words cannot express the many feelings and emotions we are all experiencing inlight of the tragic event …” Cassell wrote.
“As educators and as caregivers, we work very hard to make sure our children know that they are loved and that we will do our best to keep them safe every day. As we enter into summer break, know that our school division is committed to doing everything we can to provide the loving, nurturing, safe and secure school environment you expect and your children deserve.”
Cassell offered up strategies to help our kids, including:
- Make time to talk to your child
- Tell your child you love them, and if appropriate, try to help them understand what happened.
- Give plenty of hugs and spend extra time reading or playing quiet games together as a family.
- Answer your child’s questions honestly but realize details can be upsetting to children.
Cassell added that responses to events such as these can vary, and that if you are concerned with their reaction, contact your pediatrician, clergy or community-based mental health professionals.
“Please know that our school division has a heightened sense of awareness and a renewed desire to work alongside our community to make sure that our schools are as safe and secure as possible,” Cassell wrote. “As we move into summer vacation, please be in touch with your child’s school if your family needs assistance.”
Personally for me, as a parent with three children in Waynesboro Schools and four before long, while I may have found access to school front offices tedious in prior years, it is now more necessary than ever to protect our kids and continue to keep a high guard and sense of awareness.
With the COVID pandemic, not to say anything good has come from it, but access into schools has been greatly limited and monitored due to the easily-spread virus. Area schools feature a camera at the front door, needing to buzz to contact someone, and they’ve taken things very seriously for a while now.
Be it taking my kids for exams and seeing the teachers lock the door upon entry, to needing to go through two sets of double doors to just gain access to the main area of the school, our school leaders are doing their best.
We all send our kids to school hoping that they have an amazing day, and it hurts our hearts to see the losses some families have experienced across this country.
Kids are the future of this country, and while at times it may seem like a dark future due to the current political discourse and lack of harmony, our schools and the leaders have proven to me time and time again that they do have the best interest of our kids at heart.
Keeping them safe is of the highest priority, and I’ve seen that.
Thinking about the possibilities of what can happen in a worse-case scenario can lead to nights with little rest, but rest assured knowing our schools are doing what they can.
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