The Children Of #Newtown Are Not Just “Victims” They Have Names & We Must Remember Them

 

 

 

 

I don’t want to keep discussing this tragedy here on First-Time-Mommy, because we’re mostly mothers here, and a lot of you are expecting and don’t need the added stress. This is one of the many reasons I very rarely discuss negative news such a this. However, because we’re mothers (and fathers) I think you can understand where I’m coming from.

 

This post isn’t to go into detail or get political. I wanted to write this because I have something on my mind that’s really bothering me. This morning when I got up and logged on Facebook the first thing I seen were the news stations discussing the fact that they would soon release the names of all the victims and their birthdates. I seen an overwhelming response from people that didn’t want anything about this tragedy shown on the news anymore. Didn’t want the names of the victims released, or their birth dates. And when I dared to leave a message stating that the names should be released, my comment was flagged.

 

The children (and adults) of Newtown were not just “victims”. They were someone’s child!, grandchild, someone’s brother,sister, playmate, next door neighbor. They had former teachers, caregivers, dentists, doctors, clergy, and many others in their community and maybe even those relatives far away who loved them and cared for them. Don’t release their names? These children had names! Names that their mothers and fathers fretted over for hours on end in order to find the perfect one that would represent them. These weren’t just nameless, faceless “victims”. These were someone’s babies. We need to know who they were and to honor them and to see their beautiful faces and remember who they were. We need to see this and remember and let it hit close to home and let it break our hearts because that could have been any one of our children! And the same goes for the adults taken from us in this situation. They were heroes in the sense that people like them raise our children every single day. They died caring for “our” children.  It really DOES take a village. Every child in this country is “our” child.

 

We can’t keep turning a blind eye & moving on just to make it easier for ourselves. After we’ve let it sink in we need to pick up the pieces and decide how as a country we are going to prevent this from happening again. From gun to mental health laws, to security in ALL of our schools around the nation. That means never TIRING of hearing of such a tragedy. NEVER forgetting the names and faces of those who were senselessly killed. And NEVER pretending that this is a private matter. We must let the families grieve, but we must also grieve beside them, because yesterday, although we lost innocents, there are those children who are still living who will have to live with this each and every day of their life. They will be looking to us as adults to ensure that this never happens again.  

 

What steps would you like to see taken to help prevent such a tragedy in the future?

 

 

Image courtesy/copyright Attilio Lombardo

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