AMS Statement on Robb Elementary School Shooting

Content warning: gun violence

May 25, 2022

Dear Montessori community,

I grieve with you.

Yesterday, on May 24, 2022, I sat horrified as news reports came in of another mass shooting in the United States, this time at an elementary school in Uvalde, TX. This comes just 10 days after a mass shooting targeting and killing 10 Black Americans at a grocery store in Buffalo, NY.

I grieve not just as a former classroom teacher or uncle of elementary-aged boys, but as an American citizen who has seen this story play out dozens of times in our country’s recent history.

This year will mark the ten year anniversary of Sandy Hook in Newtown, CT, where a gunman murdered 20 children and 7 adults. It’s been four years since 14 children and 3 adults were similarly murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. According to a report from NPR, there have been 27 school shootings in 2022. Twenty-seven school shootings. In five months.

The impact of these tragedies extends beyond numbers and statistics. It is our responsibility to not become numb to these stories. It is our responsibility to honor and remember not just the victims, but also the survivors who will hold invisible wounds for the rest of their lives. It is on all of us to fight for legislation that makes this less likely to happen again.

We need to push legislators to stop the scourge of gun violence that allows our students to be murdered in their classrooms, two days before summer vacation is to begin. How many more children must lose their lives in this way? How many more communities must be left to grieve an unspeakable loss? How many more generations of children are we forcing to deal with collective trauma? How many more educators must spend their days worrying about who is walking into the school building and into the classroom?

Enough.

Our hearts are with the Robb Elementary School and Uvalde community. We stand in solidarity with them and with all victims and survivors of gun violence.

Respectfully,

Resources

Take Action

• March for Our Lives: Sign petitions, email your representatives, raise funds
• Wear Orange: National Gun Violence Awareness Day (June 3 – 5)
• NPR: How to Support Uvalde, TX

Therapy and Mental Health Support

• PBS Kids: Helping Children Navigate Scary News Stories
• American Counseling Association: Gun Violence Trauma Resources

Crisis Lines

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1 800-273-8255 (in English and Spanish)
• Crisis Text Line: Text “Connect” to 741741