‘Just putting a bandage on it’: one American classroom’s struggle with daily gun violence

Thousands of kids in my hometown hear, see or witness shootings near their schools each year. Why aren't we doing more to help them cope?

It was just before 11am on a Friday and the hallways of Stege elementary school in Richmond, California, were quiet save for the muffled sound of children's voices coming through the classroom doors.

Behind the heavy doors of Hannah Geitner's fifth-grade classroom, 26 students were seated at small tables and on a cozy green rug. It was sunny and warm out, but inside, it was impossible to tell; the room's windows had yellowed over the years.