--- title: TIME for Kids Reporter on Why He Asked Sanders School Shooting Question description: TIME for Kids reporter Benje Choucron opens up about asking Sarah Huckabee Sanders about school shootings during a White House briefing. canonical: https://time.com/5297604/time-for-kids-white-house/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-05-31T19:57:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:26:25.173Z article:section: Politics og:title: TIME for Kids Reporter Shares What It Was Like Asking Sarah Huckabee Sanders About School Shootings og:description: "Kids are the ones who are in danger at school, and it means more when a kid asks the question" og:url: https://time.com/5297604/time-for-kids-white-house/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9069ccfc91171de/69893209cf40a8b605c4c609/white-house-press-briefing-time-for-kids.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Press Secretary Sarah Sanders Holds Briefing At The White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: TIME for Kids Reporter Shares What It Was Like Asking Sarah Huckabee Sanders About School Shootings twitter:description: "Kids are the ones who are in danger at school, and it means more when a kid asks the question" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9069ccfc91171de/69893209cf40a8b605c4c609/white-house-press-briefing-time-for-kids.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # TIME for Kids Reporter Shares What It Was Like Asking Sarah Huckabee Sanders About School Shootings by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. May 31, 2018 7:57 PM UTC  WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 22: White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders answers questions during the daily White House press briefing May 22, 2018 in Washington, DC. Sanders answered a range of questions related primarily to a planned summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 22: White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders answers questions during the daily White House press briefing May 22, 2018 in Washington, DC. Sanders answered a range of questions related primarily to a planned summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)Win McNamee—Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. May 31, 2018 7:57 PM UTC A TIME for Kids reporter is speaking out about his school shooting question that made [White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders choke up](http://time.com/5296018/kid-reporter-sarah-sanders-school-shooting/) during a press briefing on Wednesday when he asked about what the Administration plans to do about school shootings. Benje Choucroun, 13, said he was surprised Sanders called on him during the briefing. “Sarah Huckabee Sanders was addressing most of the journalists by their first name, and I was new to the press briefing room,” Choucroun said. When called upon, Choucroun read out the following question: “One thing that affects my and other students’ mental health is the worry about the fact that we or our friends could get shot at school. Specifically, can you tell me what the Administration has done and will do to prevent these senseless tragedies?” Sanders responded with emotion and said she was sorry Choucroun felt that way. The TIME for Kids reporter, who has been in the program since last September, said he understood why she would get emotional. “She has kids, and the thought of her kids being away where they could get shot would be enough to make any parent emotional,” he said. “Kids are the ones who are in danger at school, and it means more when a kid asks the question.” An aspiring journalist, Choucroun said successful reporters should be able to put aside their preconceived notions when they cover a story. “Report on what’s happening, not what you already think,” he said. Choucroun, a seventh-grader from Marin County, Calif., also offered tips on avoiding fake news, including using common sense with absurd-sounding reports, cross referencing different news sources and reading reliable outlets. The TIME for Kids program runs with a new crop of kids every school year. The contest for the next group is live on our website now, if parents want to encourage their kids to apply. See details [here](https://www.timeforkids.com/2018-kid-reporter-contest/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5297604/time-for-kids-white-house/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5297604/time-for-kids-white-house/"},"headline":"TIME for Kids Reporter Shares What It Was Like Asking Sarah Huckabee Sanders About School Shootings","datePublished":"2018-05-31T19:57:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:26:25.173Z","description":"\"Kids are the ones who are in danger at school, and it means more when a kid asks the question\"","url":"https://time.com/5297604/time-for-kids-white-house/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9069ccfc91171de/69893209cf40a8b605c4c609/white-house-press-briefing-time-for-kids.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9069ccfc91171de/69893209cf40a8b605c4c609/white-house-press-briefing-time-for-kids.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Press Secretary Sarah Sanders Holds Briefing At The White House","caption":"Press Secretary Sarah Sanders Holds Briefing At The White House","creditText":"Win McNamee—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5297604/time-for-kids-white-house/","name":"TIME for Kids Reporter Shares What It Was Like Asking Sarah Huckabee Sanders About School Shootings"}}]}] ```