On April 16, 2007 I was in my second grade classroom about ten minutes from Virginia Tech. My teacher was reading to the class when suddenly an unfamiliar announcement was made. Our school was on “lockdown.” I didn’t know what this meant or why this was happening. My teacher tried to explain that something bad had happened and this was to keep us safe. Little did I know that just a few minutes away, Seung-Hui Cho had murdered 32 Virginia Tech students and faculty members.
As such a young child, it was hard for me to understand exactly what had happened. As my teacher read from an email, we were told that 32 people had been murdered during a shooting at Virginia Tech. As the young girl next to me began to cry, I felt shocked and scared. For the first time in my life, I had witnessed tragedy. Counselors were brought into my elementary school to help students cope and lockdown drills became common practice. Although I was frightened, I doubted that I would ever have to experience something like that again.
Unfortunately, this would not be the last time I experienced the effects of mass shootings. In 2011, I watched the words “12 killed, 58 injured” roll across my television screen. A mass shooting at an Aurora, Colorado movie theater had lead to the death of more innocent people. At this point, I felt scared to even leave the house. I wondered if this could happen to me. Would I be next? How could I ensure my safety? These questions stuck in the back of my mind as news of more mass shootings broke over the years. There was Sandy Hook, Charleston, San Bernadino, and Orlando just to name a few. Although these fears were always in the back of my mind, I began to realize that I was becoming numb to these tragedies. I was no longer shocked when news of a mass shooting broke, and that scared me more than the tragedies themselves.
Since 1966, there have been 129 events in the United States in which a single shooter has killed four or more people. In recent years, these shootings have become more common and more of America’s youth are forced to face the harsh reality of witnessing these tragic events. A child should not be numb to tragic mass shootings at such a young age, yet children in America repeatedly witness these events and are often no longer affected. As a civilized nation, it is unbelievable that these shootings have become routine. As the 10 year anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting approaches, I think of how that day changed my life. Something that was once shocking has simply become a common event in my life.
It is time for the United States to take a stand in protecting its citizens and its youth from gun violence and the damaging effects of these tragic shootings. If gun control laws do not become stricter soon, more children will learn about these tragic events, which can impact their psychological health and behavior. This threatens American society as a whole and could threaten the future of our country. By enforcing gun control, not only will lives be saved, but citizens will also be better protected from the psychological damage associated with these mass shootings by working to prevent them all together.
