On September 23rd 2016, tragedy struck my core when there was a shooting at my local mall, killing five people. With the world already being in shambles, this shooting was just another one on the long list of tragedies for most people, but for me, I was forever changed. Truthfully, my whole life I have been in such a hurry to grow up. When I was a child, I was dying to go to high school, to drive, to be free. Lately, I have been dying to graduate, dying to go to college, and dying to live on my own. After the shooting, I realized that one day I might just be dying, and I refused to be a person that goes through their life without truly living. This shooting changed my view on how life can change in an instant, as I watched a small town community join together in mourning. For me, it was not just the loss of five lives, it was the loss of my sense of safety. The blanket of “small-town living” being ripped away, feeling completely exposed to the wrath of the world. Yet the problem I see is not the tragedy itself, it is what people are doing about it. Whether it be posting hashtags, protesting, or spiraling into depression, it just wasn’t right. But what did I do? At first I was lost, and I kept asking myself: “What can I do?” …show more content…
It was a heavy task that was so impossible, sometimes it even felt absurd. Even so, eight long hours later, my vision came to life. Nervously, I shared it on my own Facebook page, and my creation, my unprotected heart, was out for the public to see, and
I hit the ground hard. A few minutes later, dust and debris form a pile on top of me. Gradually, the rubble is pulled away and I can see the sky. The two massive towers I saw only a short while ago are completely gone, and there is no sign of Polo. A police officer comes and picks me up. I live out the rest of the 2000s at a nearby station, listening to the TV and watching people rush to some emergency. In 2007, another school shooting happens in Virginia. The 1990s and 2000s were perhaps the most terrifying years I’ve been
As I frantically got my lunch, books, and backpack together for school, I heard the news in the living room ringing in my ears. Another shooting down in American history, this one at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The news reporter began to talk about Adam Lanza, the shooter, who was deeply troubled in his teenage years. As the reporter elaborated, he revealed details that Lanza had access to guns. I felt my chest begin to tighten as I thought about dangerous people having the ability to purchase guns with no struggle. With each word spilling out of the reporter’s mouth I suddenly felt like oxygen was escaping my body and a sense of fear came over me. Out of nowhere, like a train hitting a car, I heard my mom yell, “It’s time to go, it’s 7:35.” I say, “Okay I’m coming!” even though
On December 14, 2012, an armed staff member at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. stopped a gunman in his tracks and saved the lives of hundreds of students and teachers. Imagine if this had been the headline on the news, or on the front page of every newspaper. Would it have garnered as much attention as the tragic situation that actually unfolded when an armed gunman stormed the elementary school and committed the deadliest mass school shooting in America’s history? Would gun control activists have come out in droves to protest and feign a need for new gun laws? Would the distraught families of the slain students and teachers be paraded in front of the media and invited
In “Tragedy and the Meaning of School Shootings”, Bryan Warnick, Benjamin Johnson, and Samuel Rocha (2010) seek to uncover the symbolic meaning of these heinous crimes as well as argue the need for tragic sense in education. They first direct the reader’s attention to the ritualistic side of school shootings. They often follow the same pattern of a narcissistic social outcast contemplating suicide, then finding a violence coach who convinces them to use rage as an outlet. Their sacrifice of human lives allows them to become higher than God or any other being. The authors also suggest the the heightened security at schools may also play a role in the increase of school violence. They consider whether or not changes to these policies would cause
School shootings have become well known around the world due to the coverage by the media. . These shootings are a serious concern and have parents constantly concerned about their child’s safety when they are at school and also have students thinking twice about any unusual or suspicious behavior. The media appears to play a large part in school shootings and it is important to analyze the deviant behaviors of the shooters in these horrific instances and the fear they create in schools. Does the media play a large part in school shootings or does the media play a large part in the sensationalism of school shootings and the fear they create both in schools and with parents?
As I was searching for a passage to create my found poem, a quote that really stuck out was “I start shooting… I’m not sorry for them - I’ve lost my friend”. When it comes to shootings or war, our great America tries too often to justify itself. Due to the recent shootings and heated political climate, I thought about the increasing prevalence of gun violence, and America’s potential war with North Korea. In America, gun control and war have been heavily debated in politics. It seems that after every shooting or threat, people are passionate about reform and peace, yet very little changes.
There have been over 1,500 ‘mass shootings’ within the United States since the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, CT (Schapiro, 2017). Media headlines on mass shootings tend to utilise higher numbers when it comes to how many are committed each year, mainly when it is about those committed in the United States. The lack of an official government standard on what should be considered a mass shooting has led to much confusion as to just how many there actually are. This paper will look at how the media uses this confusion to their advantage and how they frame their reporting around a mass shooting, primarily focusing on the most recent major mass shootings of Sutherland Springs, TX and Las Vegas, NV. Also, looking at some of the less
Research in school shootings have been administered in many categories, including sociology, psychology, and etc. past studies, and direct later studies in school shootings, offers a sociology stand point for understanding the differences of school shooting incidents, including rampage shootings, mass murders shootings, and examining the mass media dynamic of school shootings; as well as presenting a combination of causes said in the research, including those on the individual, community, and social levels. Suggestions for studies in the future in school shootings are still yet to be explored.
Hundreds of thousands of people die from gun wounds in America. According to BBC News in 2015 there were 372 mass shootings America, killing 475 people and wounding 1,870. Bringing awareness of guns allows citizens to know how much harm is done by them. Guns have caused the same amount of deaths as cars. Years ago, it was a difference because cars were 8-14% higher death rates. This year the death rate difference is 4% at the maximum. Although there are things in the world I can’t change, I know I can change the damage of the violence by bringing awareness of guns.
April 20, 1999, the date then will always leave a horrifying mental scar, this was possibly the worst day any kid could ever imagine. I was in tenth grade at the time and just like every other day I was acting up and talking to my friends. In third period around 11:20 A.M. an announcement comes over the loudspeakers blaring the message, “lockdown, lockdown, this is not a drill.” I panicked as well as most of the school did, I heard girls scream in fright and everyone rushing to get into a classroom. I had no idea what was going on at the time until I heard gunshots from two different guns and explosions scattering the school halls. I was scared for not only my life but all other students and teachers of Columbine High School.
However, that wasn’t the only time, a life event about gun-free zones sparked my awarnence. More recently a gun shooting in my hometown community took place. I came home from a normal day of school. I went to the kitchen to get a snack, and
I started my first day shooting at the age of eight. I continued working with the club until I was 14. I have made it to nationals twice in my life, but only medaled once. That was this last summer, July 3rd, 2016. I qualified for nationals by competing in matches every Saturday from the month of April to May. I went to nationals that following July. When I first stepped into the hotel, I could smell the fragrant food from the restaurant. All I heard was people talking, checking in with the desk, having conversations, and all the people that were new were in awe. I remembered the hotel like I have been there 100 times. After we checked in it was the last day we got to truly enjoy the city of Rogers Arkansas until the match was over. Now it
Even though I have not experienced violence directly, violence has affected my life in several ways. How I feel about the violence happening around us is affected by what I see and hear on the news, social media, and on my phone. Recently on the news, ten women, eight children, seven men, and an unborn child were the victims of a violent attack of shooting
In the past decades there has been an increase of violence in the schools. This increase causes fear among students, teachers, parents, and all Americans. The deadliest act of school violence was the massacre at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, when a student opened fire and killed Thirty-two students and teachers while wounding seventeen. On April 16, 2007, Seung Hui Cho, opened fire on two students killing both of them. He then fled the building. Police responded to the first incident and determined it was an isolated homicide and that the gunman fled the state. Two hours later, Cho returned with two handguns and entered Norris hall which was filled with classrooms. He chained
There is nothing good that I can say about today. I have felt sick and nauseated all day. The events that occurred in this city today are unspeakable. I am usually in complete control of my emotions, but to my embarrassment, I lost control of them and I cannot seem to regain control. At first, I felt shocked, when the media released the name of the shooter, I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. I thought there was no way it could be the same person, there was no way it could be my former co-worker and friend’s brother. Turns out it was. I am heartbroken for the marines who were murdered and their families who have been so heinously, irrevocably altered, but I am also heartbroken for my friend and her family. I feel guilty for the last sentiment, in light of everything, but I can help but be heartbroken for them as well. I have decided to use the self-care activity of meditation to try to process my feelings and regain some emotional control. Right now, I am in a very bad mental and emotional state; I hope that his activity will help.