lockdown at ES track meet; students all okay
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Anonymous
This is a weird take. Our school made clear that it was up to the kids and families whether or not to go. Is your school pressuring your kid to go? |
Anonymous
I am very glad this meet has been rescheduled. Between the options of shrink from it or reschedule it, the latter is definitely best. But let's be serious -- these kids are 8-10. They are not athletes and there has been no hard work. This kind of huge meet with dozens of schools is not something DCPS should be doing in the first place. |
Anonymous
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We aren’t being pressured but DCPS has a deadline to answer.
8 to 10 not 20 year olds Trauma is different for different people at different ages. Also some children saw the gunman and some were far away. |
Anonymous
Not sure why not, I think giving the kids exposure to sports, spelling bees, math bowls etc are all good ways to expose kids to trying new things and building confidence. Even if they may be less than perfectly organized and not up to the standards of outside of school clubs. |
Anonymous
Totally agree that kids and teachers are experiencing different levels of trauma from this. And they are giving everyone a choice whether to attend the rescheduled meet. (I have no dog in this fight, I just don’t share your opinion that rescheduling is wrong footed.) |
Anonymous
For us to manage? You work for DCIAA? |
Anonymous
Cost/benefit. It's great to give kids exposure to sports. However, the goals could be accomplished (eg, elementary kids could have a mini track meet with a few other schools) without undertaking the tremendous use of resources required to hold these city-wide, full-scale meets. When your kids are older and you see how insufficient the resources are for teens that are, in fact, athletes needing real sports, it will be clearer. |
Anonymous
Who knows - the way DCIAA staffs events I am not sure it would save resources to have more smaller events. Either way, I am a parent of a teen DCPS athlete and I think those bigger elementary and early middle school events are what get kids excited in the first place, so I am all for it! |
Anonymous
So you aren’t managing how to talk to your kids about this? Therapy appointments and the like? You don’t have to manage a job, end of school activities, etc. and now talking to your kid about death on top of it. Lucky you |
Anonymous
Respectfully, just sit the meet out. Like really it’s ok. |
Anonymous
That is all fair, but I think the argument is that you would need to talk about those topics either way if your child was at that track meet. Letting the kids finish the meet and showing them that they don’t need to hide is an opportunity many parents would appreciate. For those that don’t want to participate they don’t have to. Not condoning or making light of any of this violence, but IMO reality is the kids will be near or hear about other incidents that will scare them in the future, and it is helpful to learn how to talk through it and face their fears, especially if the incident happens near their home or school. Not addressing it is often not an option. |
Anonymous
I was there and am definitely still dealing with the experience. However, this is a pretty strange take. This anger feels completely misdirected. I’m not eager to attend the make up meet but I know some of the kids are and I think it’s nice for them to offer. I am pretty darn mad at the city and the gunmen. But the purpose of rescheduling isn’t to inconvenience you personally - it’s people who also had a terrible experience genuinely trying to do their best to improve what’s an all around bad situation. Go or don’t go but maybe you need to take a deep breath and try to maintain some perspective. |
Anonymous
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I don’t think this was shared already. I hadn’t realized that he had been watching the track meet. How tragic for his family.
“Kian-Wayne Magruder, 31, of Temple Hills, Maryland, went to the D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association’s elementary school track and field championships on May 20 to cheer on his girlfriend’s son — and was fatally shot just steps from where hundreds of children were sitting in bleachers. Magruder was walking near the city’s former Spingarn High School, where the competition was being held, when three men jumped out of a car just before 2 p.m. and at least one of them opened fire, Smith said at a news conference. The attackers fled, and the vehicle they used was later found in flames in the Fort Lincoln neighborhood. There have been no arrests in the shooting. Magruder’s mother, LaKia Magruder, remembered her son as “an involved father of two beautiful children” and a true “family man” who lived a simple life. “My son worked, worked out and spent time with his family,” she said. “He always had a smile for you and a positive word.” He was an electrician apprentice, she said, but his true passion was physical fitness. She said he was building a career as a personal trainer. “Kian-Wayne was my only child,” his mother said. “He will definitely be missed by his family near and far. We must stop the senseless killings that continue to devastate our Black communities. Every life lost is a wound to our families, our neighborhoods and our future. The pain is real, the grief is deep and the cycle of violence must end.” https://wapo.st/4mQPzxy |