Des Moines Public Schools said in a statement that “our hearts are with” the families in Uvalde, Texas, after a gunman killed at least 19 children and two teachers on Tuesday at Robb Elementary School.

“From schools to churches to grocery stores to movie theaters, the epidemic of gun violence has touched every aspect of our society,” the statement from Associate Superintendent Matt Smith read. “As educators, we have a moral duty to speak out for the safety and well-being of our children. It is past time that our nation’s leaders heed the call.”

Dozens of families in the South Texas town waited for hours on the lawn of a civic center Tuesday for unthinkable news that took hours to deliver, the Texas Tribune reported. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the rate of gun deaths of children 14 and younger rose by roughly 50% from the end of 2019 to the end of 2020.

Within the past two weeks, a man in Buffalo, N.Y., driven by racism, gunned down 10 people at a supermarket on May 14. And the very next day another gunman walked into a Presbyterian church in Laguna Woods, Calif., and killed one person and wounded five others.

Kids’ and adults’ mental health may be affected by heightened social anxiety because of mass shootings. Check out these resources to see some coping mechanisms.