Perspective: The outrageous, heartbreaking conversations we now have with our 7-year-olds about surviving shooters at school and at houses of worship
Synagogue members walk outside the Chabad of Poway in Poway, Calif., on April 27. A gunman attacked the synagogue and fired a semi-automatic rifle at Passover worshipers. By Alexandra Kauffman Horowitz May 13 at 11:30 AM The conversation I have been avoiding having with my 7-year-old begins naturally enough. I have been procrastinating for weeks, although, in fairness, I spent one week just figuring out what to say.
“A closet? You’re supposed to get far away from the door. Couldn’t someone just shoot open the lock?” For weeks I say nothing, postponing the talk I know we must have. Then one Saturday, as the two of us drive to synagogue, there is a lull in our conversation. This is my moment. “NO,” I say emphatically, trying to hide my alarm as I imagine her running toward a shooter. “That’s the wrong situation. That’s what you do if you’re outside and someone is trying to take you. If you’re inside and there’s someone with a gun in the building, you get away. If you’re near a door to the outside, go outside. Don’t wait for a grown-up. Run.” I pause while she takes it in. “If you’re not near an outside door, you hide. Find the closest room, lock the door, and don’t come out.
“That’s right. And if there’s a bomb, you do the same thing. You get out. You only hide if there’s a shooter.”“How do you tell the difference between a bomb and a shooter?”
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