When Stacey Feeley first saw a picture of her 3-year-old daughter standing on the toilet seat at school, she thought it was cute.
The Michigan mom thought her daughter was playing a game at school until she asked her why she was doing it – her daughter’s answer caused Stacey to “break down.”
“She was practicing for a lockdown drill at her preschool and what you should do if you are stuck in a bathroom. At that moment all innocence of what I thought my three-year-old possessed was gone,” Stacey wrote in a Facebook post.
Stacey posted a photo of her daughter standing on the toilet to highlight what a lack of gun control is forcing teachers to instruct children as young as 3 years old to do should a gunman come into the school.
“They are barely 3 and they will hide in bathroom stalls standing on top of toilet seats. I do not know what will be harder for them? Trying to remain quiet for an extended amount of time or trying to keep their balance without letting a foot slip below the stall door?” Stacey wrote.
Her image and appeal to politicians to help in curbing gun violence went viral attracting more than 50,000 reactions.
Stacey said in her post: “No one thinks gun control will be 100% crime control. But maybe, just maybe, it helps 1% or 2% or 50%? Who knows unless we try? Why on earth are there not universal background checks? Where is a universal registration database? Why are high capacity magazines ever permitted to be sold to anyone other than direct to the military?”
Thousands of people commented on the post, one commenter said, “It is truly sad we live in a dangerous world. I remember as a 3rd grader trying to pull a gas mask over my hair. Those rubber straps were terrible at pulling at the hair. The drills of going down to the basement and knowing where the fallout shelter was. Each generation learns about fear in their own way.”
Another commenter added, “I think I can certainly buy a gun in the state since I have good background. But if I have some mental issues then i can do some harms to other people at school, campus, workplace or even at malls. Don’t you guys ever know my intentions? Do u know what will happen tomorrow when someone with imbalance mental issues will do with the gun?”
Stacey called on politicians to do more so our children and future generations to come don’t have to live in fear.
“I want them to know that this is my child… and future generations to come. This is the society they’re growing up in and as politicians, they single-handedly have a hand in shaping and building that society. I can’t imagine that they’re okay with this picture.”
This image is heartbreaking and terrifying for parents to know that at such a young age children are learning that this is a threat.
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