What has this world come to...?

Last week was one of both complete devastation and definitely eye-opening. Last Monday, March 19th, 2012, a 23 year-old man shot 3 Jewish children and a rabbi at a Jewish elementary school located in Toulouse, France (SW of Paris). The man started by steeling a scooter, drove to the school, entered the school and then commenced fire at a family of three (2 boys and their father) and at the principals daughter. The ages of these children were 3, 7, and 8 respectively. The man immediately departed the school on his stolen scooter leaving an incredibly gruesome scene behind him. This is the first school shooting in France in history and reports claim it was a complete racist (anti-Semitic) attack. This man also shot 3 military troops a couple days prior to the school shooting. This man literally brought France to their knees - something that he wanted to do. This man was killed in a dramatic gunfight with the police 4 days after the school incident. Showing up to school that Monday you could feel that something was not right. The mood was somber, the gates were all locked, the doors were all locked, and all the teachers seemed to be quite upset. After hearing what had happened, I was completely shocked. Not only am I in a country where I don't completely know the language, but how do you go about consoling these children and teachers? I think my expressions pretty much said it all. It was a very sad day and here was a minute of silence for all the victims involved before classes began. This is something that has never happened in France before and the children were not only sad, they were more terrified. They were scared to go outside, they were scared to stand beside a window. It was heartbreaking to say the least. My thoughts and prayers to the all the victims.