“September is back-to-school season. Normally that means a return to classrooms and extracurricular activities and routines. For many of our students, it also means the threat of school shootings.

That is a reality my family knows all too well. Two years ago, my 16-year-old daughter Carmen was shot and killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Going back to school has never been the same for my family. This year, it isn’t the same for anyone. Most students in Washington are not returning to their classrooms. And while I wish things were different, I am grateful that, at least for now, they are safe from the horror of school shootings.

Sadly, our young people are at risk of another kind of gun violence: firearm suicide. And just as our school districts and communities work to protect our children from school shootings, they can help protect them from suicide by firearm.”

Read the full piece by April Schentrup in ParentMap.