This was the most annoying first day of school yet. My alarm was extra loud, there was no parking, my teachers assigned seats, I was told to put my phone away five separate times, four more people died in a Georgia school shooting I think, I already have an essay and my friends do not want to go to Starbucks after school. I miss summer already.
Hyperbole? To a degree. But I live in a reality where school shootings are footnotes to daily events. I, along with many others, have allowed myself to ignore details of recent school shootings because they are sequels to previous tragedies, like Parkland, that I know too much about.
Desensitization is our biggest threat; we as a society have let school shootings become so normalized that the danger no longer registers.
On Sept. 4, two students and two teachers were shot at Apalachee High School in Winder, GA. The morning started off normal, until the first shots rang out at 10:45 a.m. Surrounding schools were sent into lockdown, and the shooter was apprehended 40 minutes later.
When I think of the nearby schools, I remember sitting in WHS on Jan. 22 of this year. At that time the police were searching for a suspected gunman seven minutes away at Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains. I do not remember gut-wrenching fear. I do not remember being thankful for the safety of my school. I do remember, however, being mad that I could not leave for open lunch.
That thought horrifies me now. I am embarrassed to say that measures put in place to keep me safe are more of an inconvenience than a blessing. Having to keep classroom doors closed is annoying, and showing ID to get into my school is bothersome.
My heart is heavy for the students of Apalachee High School; the atrocities that occurred that day should not be common. But as U.S. Senator JD Vance so glibly noted, these things have become, “just a fact of life.” Predictably, there was rightful outrage to this assertion, but we must ask ourselves, is he right? Has this become our reality? Has this become “just a fact of life?” Before we can condemn others for their sentiments, we have to face some difficult truths.
It begins with examining ourselves. I want to care about what happens to other people, and do so meaningfully. I want to make a conscious effort to carry the story of victims with me, and realize that every day feeling safe in my school is a blessing. I urge us all to do the same by telling their stories and recognizing their impact. We must grow more concerned instead of increasingly indifferent.
Going back to school always meant trendy backpacks, new teachers, old friends and a snack waiting for me when I get home. But as many students in America have learned, and I now understand, that trip home is not guaranteed.
I hope to one day live in a world where my biggest threat at school is an afternoon detention, and where we do not become so desensitized that tragedy is just another piece of passing news.