How do you recognize death?

Do you take “any” news of death the same as a tragic event that is closer to home? Does one affect you more than the other? Are there any specific reasons for your reactions? This question was posed recently elsewhere on the web. I had to think about it.
This is what I came up with.

I know I don’t react to all acts of violence the same. I am sad that there are people in the world who suffer and die. But school violence and school shootings always get to me more. I have spent 24 of the last almost 29 years in school in one form or another, and I don’t see me leaving the school environment any time soon, just changing how I participate in it again.

When Columbine happened I was working on my education classes for my under-grad degree. I remember knowing that if I were ever in that situation I would put myself between my students and the gun without even a moment’s hesitation. And that scared me, because at that point I hadn’t even been in a classroom. I know there are a lot of mothers who would say the same thing about their children, but they are mothers. I’m just a teacher. And yet I know that there are about 1,200 young children in this world currently that I would stand in front of a gun for. They are my kids and I would do anything I could for them.

So when someone else’s “kids” are hurt like this in a place that has often been my sanctuary, when the sacred halls of learning are violated like this, it hurts me and takes something out of me, even when I wasn’t there.

School violence affects me more because it is an environment with which I am familiar and that I hold dear to my heart. I can relate to it.