On Friday, there was a shooting at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas. 10 people died, and many more were injured. Their names are Aaron Kyle McLeod, Angelique Ramirez, Chris Stone, Jared Conard Black, Kimberly Jessica Vaughan, Shana Fisher, Christian Garcia, Sabika Sheikh, Cynthia Tisdale, and Ann Perkins. The shooter will not be named, as we should forget people who choose to take human lives out of their own hate.
To expand on that point, the media has done extensive coverage on who the shooter was, where he was from, how many guns he owned, etc. His mugshot and Facebook profile are all over the internet, and I am sick of seeing his image on the internet. We should remember the victims and their lives, who are now silenced. The shooter will be alive and will be able to tell his story for the rest of his life, while the victims will not. I refuse to memorize his name or look at his mugshot.
One of our classmates, Arin, said something that stuck with me. Instead of making these issues political, we should take time to mourn with the victims of the Santa Fe High School shooting, rather than arguing over guns. In my opinion and after talking to many people close to me, it seems that there has been a pattern of inaction on gun control and it is likely that this pattern will continue to stay constant through this tragedy. Columbine should have been the wake up call, but it wasn't enough for the government to put control on guns. But that isn't the point of this. Instead of calling your senator or ranting on Facebook, we should post our support, start or donate to fundraisers in support of the victims, and comfort all school kids and offer safe spaces in schools. This is the kind of action that confronts hate with positivity and change, not inaction and hate.
We should continue to mourn with the victims and for the continued loss of safety within our schools. We aren't safe anywhere, but this is especially prevalent within our schools now. I was talking to my father, and I told him that none of us should live in fear (s/o to Arin/ Faroz who said this in class, I can't remember but you both are so intelligent) , and that if we do happen to be victims of a school shooting we should live our lives to the fullest rather than living in fear to one day when it all ends because we die. This was hard for me to say to my dad, as it was like giving him a last word before I die and what I wanted to do before I die- at the age of 15. It is more than important to come to terms with this, though, although many of us don't want to.
In the end, I am so proud of everyone in our class for being so strong and supportive of each other in the face of fear. You all inspire me so so so much. We should all remain strong and live our lives to the fullest. The best way to meet hate is with love and tolerance, and by avoiding fear we aren't giving in to what the shooters wanted. They wanted to inflict fear, and I, personally, will not be living in fear in response to this.
To expand on that point, the media has done extensive coverage on who the shooter was, where he was from, how many guns he owned, etc. His mugshot and Facebook profile are all over the internet, and I am sick of seeing his image on the internet. We should remember the victims and their lives, who are now silenced. The shooter will be alive and will be able to tell his story for the rest of his life, while the victims will not. I refuse to memorize his name or look at his mugshot.
One of our classmates, Arin, said something that stuck with me. Instead of making these issues political, we should take time to mourn with the victims of the Santa Fe High School shooting, rather than arguing over guns. In my opinion and after talking to many people close to me, it seems that there has been a pattern of inaction on gun control and it is likely that this pattern will continue to stay constant through this tragedy. Columbine should have been the wake up call, but it wasn't enough for the government to put control on guns. But that isn't the point of this. Instead of calling your senator or ranting on Facebook, we should post our support, start or donate to fundraisers in support of the victims, and comfort all school kids and offer safe spaces in schools. This is the kind of action that confronts hate with positivity and change, not inaction and hate.
We should continue to mourn with the victims and for the continued loss of safety within our schools. We aren't safe anywhere, but this is especially prevalent within our schools now. I was talking to my father, and I told him that none of us should live in fear (s/o to Arin/ Faroz who said this in class, I can't remember but you both are so intelligent) , and that if we do happen to be victims of a school shooting we should live our lives to the fullest rather than living in fear to one day when it all ends because we die. This was hard for me to say to my dad, as it was like giving him a last word before I die and what I wanted to do before I die- at the age of 15. It is more than important to come to terms with this, though, although many of us don't want to.
In the end, I am so proud of everyone in our class for being so strong and supportive of each other in the face of fear. You all inspire me so so so much. We should all remain strong and live our lives to the fullest. The best way to meet hate is with love and tolerance, and by avoiding fear we aren't giving in to what the shooters wanted. They wanted to inflict fear, and I, personally, will not be living in fear in response to this.
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