“In 2023 there were at least 39 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, resulting in 17 deaths and 30 injuries nationally.  More than 349,000 students have experienced gun violence at school since Columbine.” ( John Woodrow Cox, Washington Post)

“The United States has one of the worst records among industrialized nations – losing on average 5 children every day to child abuse and neglect.  However, studies also indicate significant undercounting of child maltreatment fatalities by some state agencies by 50% or more.  That’s roughly 25% of your child’s elementary school class!”  (Childhelp.org)

“Human trafficking is the fastest-growing organized crime activity in the United States.  Estimating 250,000 children per year are victims of sex trafficking.  Most older children are trafficked while still going to school and living at home! (1018strategy.org)

“More than 29 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation are received by the national center for missing and exploited children annually.  That is over 563,461 reports per week.”  (Thorn.org)

When I look at these statistics and the types of abuse our children bear today, is it any wonder we have children who have grown up to hate, beat and kill others.  Upon hearing about the latest school shooting in Nashville, TN, where three elementary students were killed along with three adults, I was devastated by how little we have done, as a country, to protect the lives of our children today.  As the numbers in the above statements indicate, approximately 25% of the students or more, in any given school class, have been touched by one of these issues:  School shootings, child abuse, human trafficking and pornography.  In these numbers, we don’t see how many children are abused in school itself by bullying, harassment, fights, taunting and lack of social acceptance.  “One out of every five (20.2%) students report being bullied. Of those students who reported being bullied, 13% were made fun of, called names, or insulted; 13% were the subject of rumors; 5% were pushed, shoved, tripped, or spit on; and 5% were excluded from activities on purpose.” (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019)

Other than school shootings, I can’t recall the last time I read, saw, or heard any information regarding all these other types of child endangerment.  Like so many things, they’ve become the norm and I have become desensitized to all the hurts of our children today.  So now I look at my grandchildren and wonder, who taunted you in school today?  Did someone make fun of you today, use you as the brunt of their jokes to be popular with others?  Maybe someone didn’t like your hair or the way you carried your books.  All of these thoughts make my heart ache and lead me to prayer for all the children who may be suffering even as I write this blog.

“The Reactive Destruction Of Society Starts When We Fail To Protect Children.”  Katie Fetzer, Founder of 10.18  I don’t think it takes a lot of analyzing to connect the dots that exploited, abused and fearful children have the potential to grow up feeling alone and hurt in the world.  We all need to feel appreciated, connected to others and loved.  When your caregiver is also a source of distress or creates terror within the child it’s difficult for the child to feel secure.  “Children who don’t feel safe in infancy have trouble regulating their moods and emotional responses as they grow older.  By kindergarten, many disorganized infants are either aggressive or spaced out and disengaged and they go on to develop a range of psychiatric problems.”  The Body Keeps Score, by Bessel van der Kolk M.D.

In this eloquent poem by Amanda Gorman we read how our children can’t be children anymore.  The rise in home schooling during the past 2 to 3 years speaks to these numbers as parents look for ways to keep their children safe.

Hymn For the Hurting by Amanda Gorman:

Everything hurts,

Our hearts shadowed and strange,

Minds made muddied and mute.

We carry tragedy, terrifying and true.

And yet none of it is new;

We knew it as home,

As horror,

As heritage.

Even our children

Cannot be children,

Cannot be.

Everything hurts.

It’s a hard time to be alive,

And even harder to stay that way.

We’re burdened to live out these days,

While at the same time, blessed to outlive them.

This alarm is how we know

We must be altered —

That we must differ or die,

That we must triumph or try.

Thus while hate cannot be terminated,

It can be transformed

Into a love that lets us live.

May we not just grieve, but give:

May we not just ache, but act;

May our signed right to bear arms

Never blind our sight from shared harm;

May we choose our children over chaos.

May another innocent never be lost.

Maybe everything hurts,

Our hearts shadowed & strange.

But only when everything hurts

May everything change.

Her final words, “But only when everything hurts, may everything change,” speak to me as a Christian for I believe that change is possible.  The kind of change where we all begin to value life itself.  The more we devalue life itself and view it as a commodity to be used for our own benefit, as we do with abortion and all the other child abuses, everything is going to continue to hurt.

Just like I hurt when I saw this picture and its poor math skills.   Mifepristone doesn’t just have 5 deaths per million users, it actually has 1 million and 5 deaths per 1 million users. We also need to count the 1 million deaths of the unborn.  But how easily we can be led to view that abortion is not a death.

So when will our unborn children be safe?  When will our babies and toddlers be safe in their homes?  When will our schools be safe for our children?  When will our teenagers be safe from sexual exploitation?  When can a teenager knock on a neighborhood door and not get shot?  These are the questions that need our prayers, action, time and money if we’re truly going to make our world a better place.  A place where children, born and unborn will be valued and loved for who they are as a person created in the image and likeness of God, their creator.

Each of the links within this post leads to a website and each of these sites has many ways to become involved in stopping the hurt.  Maybe it’s just as simple as smiling at a child on the street or in a store.  For the more active, it might be pushing for better and less expensive childcare or letters to our lawmakers.  Like so many things, I’ve discovered it’s also a lot about becoming informed.  Spreading the news and sharing thoughts to make others more aware.   And above all else, continue to pray.  Maybe then will ‘everything change’ and the hurt begin to turn to love for one another.

I leave you with a song that calls us all to be the light of change here on earth.  “Angels Among Us”, by Chris Rupp