How to talk with kids about school shootings | Morning Newsletter
And get ready for summer downashore
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Weather-wise, another great day is forecast across the region as we stay in the 70s with some clouds.
In the aftermath of the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, we’ve heard from hundreds of people on the atrocity, what it means and what needs to happen next. Today, we’re focusing on how to have these tough conversations with children.
🏖️ Switching gears, we’re taking a look at a few new restaurants down the Shore just in time for Memorial Day weekend — all in an effort to remind you that our Down the Shore newsletter drops today. Sign up.
Oh, and remember how we told you that Philly schools were looking into later start times for high school students? Yeah, they postponed that idea.
— Kerith Gabriel (@sprtswtr, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
Wednesday morning started out as it typically does in my household, with the morning news set as a soundtrack to the mad dash of eating breakfasts, making lunches, and getting little people out the door for school. I didn’t even notice my 6-year-old glued to the TV as scenes from Uvalde, Texas, flooded the screen.
I could tell he had questions, but the words to explain the psychology behind another mass shooting that took the lives of 21 people, 19 of them kids, was not something I was prepared for at 7:15 a.m.
But Maureen Brogan, statewide director of the Traumatic Loss Coalitions for Youth Program at Rutgers University and a licensed professional counselor who specializes in trauma, said 6 years old is not too young to understand.
Specifically, in some neighborhoods of Philadelphia, children are exposed to violence on a near-daily basis. The city’s record homicide rate and ongoing gun violence have taken a toll on children who have been injured, witnessed violence, or experienced the death of a family member or friend.
According to Brogan, the No. 1 thing we can do when talking to our kids about school shootings and gun violence in general? Listen. Without judgment.
Our reporter Sarah Gantz has more with Brogan and offers a number of ways to start the conversation for children of all ages.
As an aside, are you looking for a way to lend support to those affected? Here’s how.
What you should know today
Local teachers and parents speak out and express real fear over the Texas school shooting.
It’s official. The GOP Senate race in Pennsylvania is headed for a recount.
Bucks County prosecutors have made an arrest in the 30-year-old murder case of a Croydon woman that went cold.
Two mega Philly nonprofits have teamed up in an effort to ensure more kids get into college.
This nonbinary teen writes an eye-opening op-ed of her stint at a Central Bucks school.
Here’s how you can get free at-home COVID-19 test kits from the city for special events.
Local Coronavirus Numbers: Here’s your daily look at the latest COVID-19 data.
One of the many things that’s fantastic about the unofficial start of going down the Shore this weekend is the knowledge that if you get completely sick of eating burgers on the grill or another Wawa Italian hoagie, there is a whole host of restaurants from renowned celebrity chefs launching this summer – and a few even this weekend.
Consider:
🏖️ Ossu Japanese Tavern (Tropicana, Atlantic City), opening Memorial Day weekend, will be a modern Japanese tavern with a focus on small plates, yakitori, and sushi.
🏖️ The Yard at Bally’s (Bally’s, Atlantic City), due Memorial Day weekend, is a beer garden with live entertainment and pub menu, amid 1990s-themed arcade games, lounge-style seating, and an indoor and outdoor stage for live entertainment. Signature: a burger called The Influencer (slab bacon, house-smoked onions, tableside smoked cheddar fondue, and jalapeño “bling”).
Just a sampling of 11 new establishments all headed to the Shore as our food reporter Michael Klein highlights in his latest.
Speaking of the beach, our reporter Amy Rosenberg, who refers to herself as the “lady by the sea,” will reside downashore for a good portion of the summer to deliver the latest of what’s going on along the Jersey beaches.
In addition to the best places to go, and things to do, Amy will deliver the unique perspective of every Jersey beach and bayside town via our summer pop-up newsletter, Down the Shore, which launches today. If you haven’t yet and are planning to spend some considerable time down the Shore this summer, sign up here.
🧠 Philly Trivia Time 🧠
Originally built in 1850, the Glen Foerd estate in Northeast Philly was saved by the surrounding community from developers who wanted to build 800 condos on the 19th-century property. It has since become an oasis for birdwatchers and wedding crashers alike. Today’s question: Do you know what Glen Foerd was originally called? Take a guess and find the answer here.
a. Glen Reiss
b. Glengarry
c. Glen on the Delaware
d. Glen Schwartz
What we’re …
😮 Amazed by: Even though it’s an annual event, the amount of garbage left on the streets by college students at the end of the year is something not easy to get used to.
👀 Watching: What conservative media outlets are doing with a leaked video from a transgender wellness conference that happened in Philly last year.
📰 Reading: What Pennsylvania members of Congress had to say about the mass school shooting in Texas.
🧩 Unscramble the Anagram 🧩
An Ocean City boardwalk 🍕 collab, lost.
NO & KACC MAM
Think you know? Send your guess our way at morningnewsletter@inquirer.com. We’ll give a shoutout to a reader at random who answers correctly. Today’s shoutout goes to Rosarita Fraton of Philadelphia, who correctly guessed PRESTON & STEVE as Wednesday’s answer.
Photo of the day
The weekend will soon be upon us, Philly. But first, Thursday.✌️