Dear all,
I am writing this letter with a heavy heart. Just like all of you, I am wrestling with grief and rage as I navigate the news on another tragic school shooting. How do we protect and support our kids as they grow up in a wounded world?
I decide to channel the sadness and frustration into a focus on what I CAN do, instead of what I cannot do.
When enough is enough, let’s take actions and offer solutions. “If not now, then when? If not you, then who?”
Let’s use our vote to help secure a future free from gun violence.
Let’s educate ourselves and push for common-sense laws to help save lives by supporting organizations such as Sandy Hook Promise and Everytown for Gun Safety.
Let’s start the work in our own communities and join the grassroot movement of Americans fighting for public safety measures.There is a chapter of MomsDemandAction in every state.
Let’s make changes.
I’d like to share the following resources curated by the SDCOE to support our children with the news. Also, a big thanks to Katie, our Social Emotional Education Fellow at NextGen Edu, for sharing Life's Protective 3 from Kimochis, which helps us tap into hopeful, brave, and grateful feelings.
As parents and educators, we also need to manage our own distress to become the group of safe and calm people that our kids can talk to. In order to raise compassionate human beings, we need to have compassion and empathy for ourselves first; and model self-care. We need to put the oxygen masks on before we care for others, right?
I want to end this letter with honesty and hope. While we acknowledge that we currently live in a world with war, hate crime and gun violence, we do have the power to make positive changes. And here’s some good news: in response to the Atlantic shooting which happened in March last year, I decided to create a project to stop Asian hate. A group of kids from NextGen Edu have made the world's first AAPI Biography online library! Some of the young authors will present at Santa Clara City library this coming Saturday with our teachers at NextGen Edu, Oliver Chin (author & publisher) and David Siller (poet & author).
Register now to join us in the free online library event & author talk this Saturday, 3PM-4PM PST, 5/28. Come explore AAPI heroes, do fun activities, and interview the authors! I hope to see many of you there!
Jiang Pu, Ph.D.
Founder of NextGen Education