Musings: Let children live as children
An aerial view of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012 before it was razed. Credit: Getty Images/John Moore
It’s been just over 12 years since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. I can hardly imagine the horror and evil that 26 people faced that mid-December morning before they were fatally shot.
Six were adult members of the staff. Twenty victims were children who were 6 or 7 years old. They were probably thinking about the holidays and the upcoming week off from school when they could play with their new toys with their friends. It has been reported that one boy confronted by the gunman said, “I don’t want to be here.” No child should have to come face-to-face with their own imminent death.
As a nation, we still debate the issues of gun control and mental health with no meaningful progress toward resolving this national crisis.
This horrible situation needs resolution whether it is a mass shooting of elementary school children or a child innocently playing in front of a family home.
— Bill Olson, Westhampton
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