A couple of weeks ago, I went to visit Children's Memorial Grove, which memorializes children killed by violence in Alameda County. The memorial is at the end of a one-mile hike that overlooks a beautiful lake and is a lovely setting for a tribute to the children we have lost, but I just couldn't stop thinking, "We shouldn't need this." The memorial only went up until 2012, so I kept wondering if I'd know more of the names. The kids I taught would be at the most dangerous ages, statistically, in the last few years. I felt panic every time I saw a first or last name I recognized, but the only child I knew personally was in 2009, and I've told his story before . I'm sure I would know more from 2013-2016. And, of course, one of my former students was killed last year, but he was an adult. Barely. I don't know what we can do to make this obsolete. It's bad enough when kids die in any way, but to die violently? It SHOULDN
Author of Literally Unbelievable: Stories of an East Oakland Classroom