Haunted by questions

I am a new mother, but unlike many new parents, I don’t worry about sleep training or car-seat safety. Instead, I worry about my kids dying down the hall from my classroom. I find myself in the unique position of being both a secondary school teacher and a new parent of teens: our adoption of a 13- and 14-year-old finalized last fall.

Following Parkland, I find myself haunted by such questions as: “Would I throw myself in front of a student, knowing it means leaving my own children motherless again?” “What if I didn’t?” “Would I expect my colleagues to throw their bodies in front of my children?” “What if they didn’t?” “What about survivor’s guilt?” “What kind of career field did I enter where this is a real possibility?”

I’ve been a teacher for over a decade, but I’ve only been a parent for a few months. As a teacher, I am labeled in loco parentis, meaning that I am to act in good faith as a parent to my students while they are under my care. But what is good faith? Do I let go and let God?

I know I don’t want to raise my children in fear. The Jonesboro shooting was 20 years ago next month; what laws do we have in place now to protect our children? What tangible actions will we take to keep our kids safe? I urge lawmakers and private citizens to act in good faith and value our children over guns.

ALICE KUNCE North Little Rock