At our school, kids who had questions or concerns regarding the shooting were encouraged to speak with the guidance counselor, the principal or the vice principal.

Anonymous wrote:In fact your whole subject line is wrong - Teacher answers kids questions about shooting is more accurate.

Funny how up until today teachers were heroes and now they're doing the wrong thing.

OP here - I happen to love and respect my kids' teachers.

Anonymous wrote:This is 2nd grade class. One girl brought it up and teacher explained what happened. I had made the choice not to tell my sensitive DS but was prepared to talk about it if DS heard about it at school. I kind of feel the teacher should have allowed parents to address it in their own way, though not sure how she could have deflected the conversation. What do you think?

This happened to us, too. In retrospect, I think it was foolish to believe that it wouldn't come up in school. I just wish we had spoken to dd about it this weekend. Instead, we shielded her from the nes.

OP again. Good points all. I tend to be over-protective, and don't always see things clearly when it comes to my own kid. You have set me straight.

In fact your whole subject line is wrong - Teacher answers kids questions about shooting is more accurate.

Funny how up until today teachers were heroes and now they're doing the wrong thing.

Exactly what others have said. My expectation is that teachers weren't proactively addressing it, but if asked they would.

Freezing, acting like it was nothing, or deflecting back to parents would be the wrong approach. You have to answer kid's questions and you have to prevent fear and mis-information being spread by some kids who knew a little.

I told my 7 y.o. over the weekend because I assumed there would be talk about it at school, at least staring with the older kids. Now I wonder if I should have, but I think it was the right thing.

With all due respect OP, you had the whole weekend to address it. I think the teacher absolutely needed to say something if another child was asking. The kids would have talked about it and who knows what else your child would have heard from the other kids. If your child is that sensitive, act faster next time.

We have to respect the teachers and the position they're put in. I'd be ok with it. The more they deflect it, act like it's a secret, etc the more scared the kids will be.

Anonymous wrote:I think we should allow teachers the flexibility and respect to handle things that arise in their classrooms as best they can. Yes, in a perfect world, the parents should handle things at home. We certainly know all too well that this is not the case. I would rather have a sensitive and professional teacher handle it then just let my child wonder and/or hear false or distorted information on the playground.

OP here and I hear you. This makes good sense. Thank you.

I think the teacher evaluated the situation and decided to address the child's concerns. The teacher probably thought that if one child had questions, more probably do.

I am glad to hear that the teacher talked about it as opposed to deflected it back to the parents. The school has the resources to appropriately manage the concerns that children may have through trained counselor and staff.

You can't censor everything that your child is exposed to at school. I'm sure the teacher told the kids a minimal amount. I don't see any cause for alarm.

Why is this world so afraid of reconizing that people die? It's as much a taboo as sex (or perhaps moreso!). I'm of the opinion that you tell children in limited ways about the good and bad of the world. It's life. If they are capable of asking about it, they are capable of getting an age-appropriate, but truthful answer.

I think we should allow teachers the flexibility and respect to handle things that arise in their classrooms as best they can. Yes, in a perfect world, the parents should handle things at home. We certainly know all too well that this is not the case. I would rather have a sensitive and professional teacher handle it then just let my child wonder and/or hear false or distorted information on the playground.

I was actually wondering about this myself - would the school address it. I would hope that they would tell us beforehand, and give the parents a chance to opt out, but maybe that is impossible (as better the kid hear it from a teacher than hear it from another kid).

I wonder if the teacher was asked a direct question and felt it had to be answered at that time.

This is 2nd grade class. One girl brought it up and teacher explained what happened. I had made the choice not to tell my sensitive DS but was prepared to talk about it if DS heard about it at school. I kind of feel the teacher should have allowed parents to address it in their own way, though not sure how she could have deflected the conversation. What do you think?