Beyond Newtown, Connecticut, much of the nation is still in shock after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. The world is still trying to grasp the loss, and if you have children you are having to face sending them back to school Monday morning.
“It’s just still there from Friday and I never got over it. It’s not something that you get over. So basically it’s there, and it’s just uneasy,” says parent Dina Banasiak. Monday morning parents will have to send their children to school and reassure them it is a safe place, even if they have their own doubts. “Keeping them in their same routine is going to be very important. You may have to bring a child in that may be crying, that may be very fearful, and reassuring them that they are going to be safe in their own schools. It’s going to be hard for parents to say goodbye just give them the extra hug in the morning, if you need to at a later time go and grieve when the child isn`t present,” says Erin Tang Sing, a school counselor and outpatient therapist. “For parents the best advice is to first manage their own distress. As to where you are with it, what you’re showing your children, being a good role model. As to how to work through some of these emotions that we feel when we experience a loss like this.”
“They have wonderful teachers that would do anything for them. It is protected, they do have locks and cameras. It is protected so that gives me comfortable feelings,” says Banasiak.
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