The past few weeks have been an absolute nightmare for parents in the Philippines. It feels like every time we open social media or turn on the news, our hearts break into a million pieces. We’ve been hit with tragedy after tragedy involving children—lives cut short, bodies injured, and young minds deeply traumatized.

The Tacloban school shooting, the heartbreaking drowning of the Ateneo student-athletes, two terrifying stabbing incidents in Cavite, and another near-miss school shooting incident back in Tacloban. It leaves you staring at the screen, chest heavy, asking yourself: What in the world is happening to our country?

It is hard to fathom why these things are happening. If there is one place on earth that should be an absolute sanctuary for our children, it’s their school. It is their second home. It’s where they are supposed to learn, laugh, play, and grow, not look over their shoulders in fear.

Nakakatakot. It is genuinely terrifying to let go of our kids right now, especially after having them safely tucked away and confined in our homes for the three months of summer vacation.

As a mother, the anxiety is real, and it is heavy.

Every single morning, as my son leaves for school at almost 6:00 AM on the school service, my mind starts to spiral. The morning travel, and even the afternoon when he is heading back home, gives me so much anxiety. We just never know what will happen on the road. Anything is possible, and accidents can happen anywhere. But what used to be a worry reserved just for the travel has now bled into the whole day. The anxiety doesn’t stop when he arrives anymore. Now, it follows him right inside the classroom walls, covering the entire time he is away from me.

In times like this, all we can do is hold onto community and faith. I find comfort in knowing that we are not entirely alone in this watch. I trust, and I deeply pray, that my son’s classmates and his football teammates are being well-guided by their own parents. We share a single group chat, helping each other out, checking in, and keeping watch together.

It gives me peace of mind to know that when I am not there, I have these other parents to trust to look out for my son and they know the same goes for me, when I am there and they aren’t around, I have their kids’ backs too. It really does take a village to raise—and fiercely protect—a child today.

No child should ever have to experience these horrors, let alone at the hands of another child. And no mom, no parent, should ever have to endure that kind of unimaginable grief.

I pray that all children are fiercely protected whenever they are out of their parents’ sight. I pray that our children develop positive, healthy minds. May they never feel the need to resort to violence, whether it stems from a desire for revenge, a desperate cry for attention, or just for the sake of it.

May the hearts of every grieving, traumatized family find a way to heal. May justice be swiftly served. And above all, may we find a way to make our schools safe places once again.