Enough

Do you have any idea of what happened on February 14th, 2018?

People got up in the morning to get ready for school and work. Parents and older siblings made breakfast. Pets were taken out in the early morning. Neighbors greeted each other with a still-half-asleep smile. Students checked their phone for messages from their cousins asking if they were still attending their basketball game that evening. Others texted each other to make sure they grabbed their costume props for dress rehearsal that night. Some put on some of their nicer apparel for Valentine's Day. Younger siblings whined to their parents, asking them why their older brother isn't forced to sit and eat breakfast before school. Outside, a car is pulling up with someone's best friend to give them a ride to school. Parents kissed their children goodbye and reminded them of their curfew. Teenagers mumbled a quick "Love you too" and made their way to school.

All of these students arrived at Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School. There were students giving each other boxes of chocolates and flowers for Valentine's Day. Coaches hounded on the students who had been missing practice recently. Teachers ushered students inside the school and warned them to put their phones away.

At 12:18 PM on February 14, 2018, Nikolas Cruz brutally murdered 17 people in Stoneman Douglass High. Nikolas Cruz brought an AR-15 onto the campus and mercilessly killed 14 students and 3 staff members.

As a result, there are more fatigued smiles and condolences from neighbors in the mornings to come. Pets are whimpering at the empty bedroom doors, wondering why their owner isn't getting ready to take them on their daily walk. Friends might not even be able to go to basketball games anymore, knowing there is a loud cheer in the crowd missing. Families are torn apart, older siblings are beating themselves up about not spending as much time with their sister. Younger siblings are crying to themselves on their way to school now because they miss their older brother's cheesy inspirational speech when they dropped them off in the morning. Sports teams aren't the same without their selfless coach. Football games feel empty because the team's number one supporter is gone.

This was the event that made so many students rise above and take action when all they received from the president were "thoughts and prayers." Students everywhere used the powerful phrases, "enough is enough" and "not one more."

You see, there was another school shooting a couple of days ago in Texas. During an interview with a student who attended Santa Fe High School, the reporter asked if there was a part of her that said: "This would not happen in my school." The student replied with, "No, there wasn't. It's been happening everywhere. I've always felt it would eventually happen here, too." She also adds, "I wasn't surprised. I was just scared."

This response tells our leaders something. We have students who are currently paranoid about going to school, but we also have students who seem almost numbed to this, as if they're just waiting to hear the gunshots in their own school.

While some schools are now forcing their students to wear transparent backpacks provided for them, some are unfortunately arming their teachers with weapons of their own, and others are installing metal detectors in the entrances, one school district took an interesting approach. Blue Mountain School District in Pennslyvania is putting five-gallon buckets of stones and rocks inside classrooms. The superintendent, David Helsel states, "...If an armed intruder attempts to gain entrance into any of our classrooms, they will face a classroom full of students armed with rocks and they will be stoned."

We need change. We need change soon. Students should not be risking their lives simply by attending school every morning. Due to the lack of change, many students are writing to their state senators. If you would like to participate, but don't know how to go to Writetocongress.org and use one of the selected templates to address the issue.

Stay safe.