Florida Shooting Puts Parents In Tough Spot... Again
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - It has become a sad reality in America: no place is sacred, no place is safe, when evil is armed.
"My heart just aches," says mother of three Evelyn Hall in Dallas today. "I can't imagine. I really can't."
There are no words that can really make sense of what has happened in Florida. So what do parents say to their kids? It is a tough assignment, while managing fears of their own.
"It could have been us," says Hall, "think about that: they sent their children to school and they expected them to come home, just like we do. And some of their children did not."
Hall doesn't have children in Parkland, Florida. But, she freely admits that the fear touches her in North Texas. She says it was difficult to take her 5-year-old to school.
"I don't want to make her afraid to go to school," says Hall. "But, definitely we have been in been in talks with her teacher, the counselors-- what are they going to do if something like this happens at the school?" And then adding, "I'm asking the hard questions and thank God they have answers."
Big picture questions are more complicated-- like how do we make this stop? How do we tell our children to live unafraid?
"I just don't know," admits Barbara Darland, and then quickly asking: "what would you do? what would you say?"
A father who asked only to be identified as Dan, answered our questions with questions of his own. "You have to tell 'em they're safe right? You have to believe they're safe? Right?" And when asked if this latest shooting challenged those beliefs, Dan responded with "I'm always asking that, right?"
Stephanie Zervas is among those who say it's best for parents not to make promises that a violent world is intended to keep.
"I would not send them back to school and say it's going to be fine," says Zervas,"because you don't know."
Fed up parent Robert Daleo says he knows this: "We should not be in a nation that doesn't see our kids come home safely after school." Daleo says he's devastated at the loss of life in Florida. But, he's also angry with the lack of action from the nation's politicians.
"The discussion on gun control and mental health and what have you-- these are good discussions, but, what I want to know is what are we doing for the security of our children?"
Again, tough questions. No good enough answers