COLORADO SPRINGS — Jennifer Smith, a Colorado Springs mother of three daughters, is waking up on Wednesday morning more nervous than usual to send her six-year old to school.
"She's not safe anywhere these days," said Smith, after 19 children and 2 adults lost their lives during a school shooting in Texas on May 24.
Smith was shocked when she heard the news about the shooting, but it's a feeling she and other parents across the country have all felt before.
"I'm like what is gong on? Again? Like what are the mental issues that are going on with these people? They are very sick."
Colorado is no exception to states plagued with pain from school shootings.
Rachel's Challenge is an organization which started after Rachel Scott was the first victim to lose her life in the shooting at Columbine High School in 1999.
"If it feels to people like these types of events are becoming more common, it's because they are," said Kristi Krings, CEO of Rachel's Challenge.
According to the Center for Homeland Defense and Security's K-12 School Shooting Database, 42 people died in school shootings in 2021.
The goal for Rachel's Challenge is to essentially remove violence from schools.
"It is simultaneously the most rewarding and the most difficult job I have ever had, because it's at once heartbreaking to hear from and interact with kids who are struggling with things that many of us can barely imagine, and also extremely rewarding to have an opportunity to offer them a path to hope."
Rachel's Challenge offers resources for parents and schools when it comes to trying to talk to children about gun violence, find them here.
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