I’m not exactly sure what time the world is supposed to end today. But my guess is if you are reading this blog, the earth is still intact.
It seems we can’t learn our lesson enough, previous predictions that have turned out to be oh-so-not-true. Although, it seems more people are holding weight in the Mayan calendar running out.
As if my teens didn’t have enough to worry about (no, they really didn’t think the world was going to end today), there were other attempts to wreck their last day of school before winter break. Several threats of violence against the middle and high school.
It actually started yesterday. Early afternoon my 10th grader sent me a text that a police officer was standing guard at lunchtime. It seems several rumors were going on, something about a man looking inside a window at the middle school and then a separate one about a “troubled” student in the high school who was put on house arrest because he threatened to shoot others.
It’s almost instinct for me to panic. But I recognized the pattern. It seems almost every time we experience a mass shooting of some sort, other quacks rise up.
I assured my daughter it’s just an attempt to instill unwarranted fear and to get the winter break started a little early. Needless to say another high school in a neighboring community apparently is keeping kids home today because of similar threats.
I really hate that we live in a world like this. I hate that children have to be concerned with crazy ideas like the world coming to a fiery end. But even worse, when human beings take advantage of tragic situations and attempt to stir up unnecessary fear.
Don’t be too quick to laugh away your child’s fears. It doesn’t matter if they are warranted. We are the shelter from the storms of life, real or not.
This is where my role as a parent becomes so very important. From me they need calmness and security. They need to know that I am their safe haven from a world that wants to frighten them and bring harm.