5 Comments
User's avatar
Emily Paine Smith's avatar

Thank you for sharing this story, Beth! I love your letters for TLC because you are so honest and vulnerable, and you write about topics that matter to our community as a whole. I can’t believe that the US was more willing to ban TikTok than assault weapons. I was a teacher for a decade and one of my students murdered his family over Thanksgiving break. I often think about that horrific tragedy and wonder if he hadn’t been caught if he would have come to school to do more harm. I read a statistic from Everytown recently that 59% of American adults have been close to gun violence in some capacity, which is maddening and frightening. Telling your story is so important! 💖

Expand full comment
Beth Ras's avatar

Oh, Emily. This story about your experience breaks my heart. Pain upon pain, a tragic cycle. Let's hang on to imagining something better and fighting for it together in all the small ways that we can!

Expand full comment
Emily Paine Smith's avatar

Absolutely. It’s the best we can do for our future generation 💖

Expand full comment
Elizabeth's avatar

I'm so glad you are ok and no one at your school was physically harmed. My kids are in middle school and I agree with you that things need to change!!

Expand full comment
Beth Ras's avatar

Yes! I said something to my therapist about, I’m ok now, and she said, really? What part of you is ok? And I realized, none of me is ok with that. None. And I’d rather sit in the “this isn’t ok at all, ever” than become numb. Thanks for not being numb with me!

Expand full comment