WYOMING — Wyoming Superintendent Brian Schroeder used his weekly update to share thoughts and reflections on the recent school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
Nineteen children and two teachers were killed on May 24 by an 18-year-old who legally purchased an AR-style rifle from a federally licensed gun dealer in the Uvalde area on May 17 and a second rifle on May 20, according to a report by the Associated Press.
“The safety of our schools has always been sacrosanct in our nation, and to even have to consider the prospects of something so hideous happening at the local community schoolhouse, for most of us, never once crossed our minds when we were kids,” Schroeder wrote.
He went on to discuss “the traumatizing effect on all of us”, calling it “intangible” and hard to avoid, especially for young people.
Schroeder speculated that “The effects potentially will be varied, deep and life-long: some will become increasingly cynical about life and the nature of the human condition, while others may actually grow deeper spiritually, guided by the verities of their faith. Most, however, will not know how to process this. Without guidance and intervention, they will be vulnerable to paralyzing levels of confusion and even despair.”
Schroeder went on to discuss his work with traumatized children and families. “[I} heard from not a few kids how pronounced the darkness was in their own hearts as well as some of the evils they fantasized about enacting. In almost every other way, these were regular, loveable, delightful kids, but deep down inside, they were tormented. Finding someone they could talk to about their torment (and still feel loved and accepted after having done so) did offer them some relief,” Schroeder wrote.
Schroeder wrote, “while it is human nature to deal with this stuff by not dealing with it, going on through life as if nothing happened, that is exactly what we can’t do. You don’t have to be a mental health worker to care. You don’t have to be a professional counselor to listen. And you don’t have to be a pastor to weep with those who weep and pray for those who need it – which at this point, it goes without saying, is pretty much all of us.”
“In these days of heaviness, it falls to all of us to become more human, and in doing so, more divine. There is a time to work, and then there is a time to lay aside the duties of the day, move in, and become the healing presence some of our students need. This is one of those times,” Schroeder said.
