Tragedy in the Screams and Tears of Children

Today marks tragedy for two communities half way around the world from one another. Ryan Lanza shot students and staff members in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, CT resulting in 26 deaths (20 children and 6 adults). Min Yingjun stabbed 22 children and 1 adult at a school in Henan province village of Chengping, China. Yingjun’s actions resulted in injuries, but no reported deaths as of right now.

These actions may cause people to wonder, “What’s wrong with this world,” or “How could someone harm young children,” or “What was going through that person’s mind.” The possible thoughts, questions, and concerns are endless. The range of emotions people are experiencing who are directly and indirectly affected by both tragedies is a spectrum such as anger, relief, outrage, shame, and sadness.

My hope for these tragedies is that we as communities do not enter into the blame cycle rather than focusing on preventive measures. Right now the immediate steps is to support the communities affected in any way possible to facilitate a transition after the tragedies have occurred, and reduce the chance of both tragedies relaying in the same or different communities.

 I know the answers I am offering are generic in description, but my hope in writing this piece is to inspire others to take action in any way they can. There is no justification in the world to make the actions of Yingjun and Lanza acceptable, but my hope is for responses to be generated out of love rather than hate.