General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMy 16 year old daughters letter to the Editor got published in our major paper today! No more fear!
No more fear
EDITOR: I am a student at Santa Rosa High School, and after the recent shootings I am not only infuriated but also terrified. Before the shooting, my biggest fears in school were failing a math test or studying for the SAT. From now on, I will be hesitant to leave the classroom in case I need to take cover from a bullet.
When I hear a loud bang, I assume its a gunshot rather than a student dumping out a recycling bin. I hate living in fear for my life when I step onto campus. I am done worrying if today will be the last day I see my best friend before she is shot. I am done worrying about the 2,000-plus lives of students and faculty on a daily basis and whether they will be here tomorrow.
No child should have to live with these fears. No teacher should have to worry about whether he or she will need to shield students from bullets. And no parent should have to worry whether their child will be home for dinner that night.
This is an unacceptable way to live, and we want change. We want it now.
Lindsay
(3,276 posts)and to you.
Bluepinky
(2,279 posts)MLAA
(17,376 posts)Motownman78
(491 posts)Too many people living in fear, and the realization that you and your daughter are 4,500 times more likely to be killed in an auto accident on the way to school then in a school shooting, that fear is really unfounded. Over 40,000 killed in auto accidents in 2017. 9 school shooting deaths in 2017.
Sorry, this might not be popular, but I am sick and tired of living in a country infested with Fear. Fear got us Donald Trump after all.
packman
(16,296 posts)Need a license to drive - none needed for gun ownership
Must pass a test to drive - None needed for shooting a gun
Must be at least a certain age to drive - No age limit to own a gun
Must abide about rules/regulations of the road - Do as you will with gun
Must be insured for possible harm to another - No insurance needed
Car must have min. safety equipment for protection of self and others - guns none
The NRA infested this country with fear. Everyone and anyone owning a gun makes a society unsafe.
barbtries
(28,824 posts)most of us need to drive to get around and carry out the tasks of our daily lives, so the risk while real is something we can deal with. that must inform why we don't all quake in our boots every time we have to cross a street or get into a motor vehicle. we don't need guns to live unless we're hunters living off the land. this dynamic of more and more guns, automatic killing machines with no other function, can and must change.
common sense. no other developed country is so victimized by the gun and it's just crazy and unnecessary.
packman
(16,296 posts)The PURPOSE of a vehicle is to transport people. It provides a service and convenience in our lives. Most of us need one to function in today's society. While the use of cars does result in human deaths, most do not die from INTENTIONAL harm.
The only PURPOSE of a gun is to kill. It is not needed for most of us to function in life and does not provide any valuable service or convenience. Most gun deaths are the result of INTENTIONAL harm.
DBoon
(22,433 posts)Guns are designed to kill
You need to get to work and other places, a car is usually the only option
How many times do you need to kill someone? Why should owning a machine to efficiently kill be part of someone's life?
TNNurse
(6,934 posts)Accidents by definition are not intentional. Some are preventable, but not all. School shootings are intentional. These two events are NOT comparable.
I graduated from high school in 1967, in the previous 12 years I did know there was a possibility of a car wreck, not once was I concerned about a school shooting. Things have changed.
olegramps
(8,200 posts)Little innocent children murdered in cold blood turns my stomach. If Sandy Hook didn't convinced people that these weapons must be restricted I don't know what would ever convinced them. I realize that the vast majority of people who have these assault weapons will not use them to kill kids or anyone for that matter. They appear to so enamored with their so-called rights that they are unable to comprehend that to stop them from falling into the hands of a psychopath that they should sacrifice their right for the good of all. It is so insane that the NRA is opposing the banning of "bunt stops" that turn a semiautomatic weapon into a machine gun. It is not hard to imagine what the police could be forced to confront, let alone innocent citizens. This is utter madness without restraint. Their answer is arm up! What's next; people with rocket launchers, flamethrowers, a tank equipped with 50 caliber machine guns? Just what the little misses needs to go shopping at the local supermarket. Sling on your AK47, or what ever, as you head out door on your way to work. Insanity!
barbtries
(28,824 posts)it's the tragic, senseless, ceaseless loss of life and limb.
MyOwnPeace
(16,955 posts)It is either negligence - or intentional!
http://www.stonekettle.com/2018/03/bang-bang-crazy-part-12-excuses-excuses.html
3catwoman3
(24,147 posts)So-called gun "accidents" are entirely preventable if people would only use their brains.
efhmc
(14,745 posts)Very few of us need a gun to transport us anywhere.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,598 posts)How many students died, in class, from maniacs driving a car through the school?
jalan48
(13,921 posts)world wide wally
(21,762 posts)This is an unacceptable way to live
Wounded Bear
(58,799 posts)pandr32
(11,646 posts)No more fear should become a slogan.
rurallib
(62,492 posts)Happyhippychick
(8,379 posts)Ligyron
(7,648 posts)If your worried about gun violence you are at risk absolutely everywhere, church, the mall, etc.
TNNurse
(6,934 posts)Nowhere in this country is safe from gun violence...oh, except many government buildings and NRA meetings.
mountain grammy
(26,677 posts)a March for our Guns in Montana. That was NPR, not Fox. The media will decide not to report corporate misdeeds, Congressional misdeeds, and so much more, but it's important we know that the gun nuts are marching in Montana, a low population state with far too many Nazis. WTF?
ProfessorGAC
(65,466 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Well done! You must be very proud of your daughter. She sounds like a very bright young lady.
BobTheSubgenius
(11,582 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)I hope that fear is mostly hyperbole, though, understandable to make the point for the letter, but she shouldn't be living with it for real.
To put this in perspective for everyone, there are something like 4 million students in 100,000 PUBLIC schools in this nation and goodness knows how many classrooms. In addition are all the students at 30,000 private schools.
According to the WaPo, approximately 193 schools have had a shooting on campus since Columbine in 1990. Most students in most schools didn't hear about it until afterward and were not in danger.
School shootings are extremely rare, and they are actually a very small part of the epidemic of gun violence. Just so she knows.
KT2000
(20,609 posts)to say this. Too many are not listening.
Canoe52
(2,949 posts)MyOwnPeace
(16,955 posts)Essay: A+
(your parents should take you out for dinner for such good work!)
appalachiablue
(41,221 posts)Leghorn21
(13,527 posts)ChubbyStar
(3,191 posts)Leghorn21
(13,527 posts)raven mad
(4,940 posts)Watch out world, ChubbyStar's daughter is out to kick some butt in a thoughtful, intelligent way. You GO, girl!
Response to ChubbyStar (Original post)
Post removed
ChubbyStar
(3,191 posts)oberliner
(58,724 posts)I think it's high time we considered alternatives.
ChubbyStar
(3,191 posts)I'm sure it will be well received.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)In response to this OP where the student talked about how the SAT was her biggest fear in school prior to the shooting. This is not the first time I had come across that sentiment. Just a little food for thought.
ChubbyStar
(3,191 posts)Bye! Have a great night.
RandomAccess
(5,210 posts)are living with. I noticed today that even tho I was already quite sympathetic, it nevertheless had a fairly strong effect on me.
Demsrule86
(68,869 posts)bdamomma
(63,978 posts)none of us should live in fear especially our most prized possessions our children.
mcar
(42,479 posts)MineralMan
(146,358 posts)Upthevibe
(8,115 posts)Well done.........
stopwastingmymoney
(2,044 posts)And, I'm so damn proud of all of these kids...
ChubbyStar
(3,191 posts)Nice to see another Sonoma County peep!
riversedge
(70,483 posts)NanceGreggs
(27,821 posts)ChubbyStar
(3,191 posts)I shared with mini ChubbyStar some of your posts tonight, and she considers it an honor that you applauded her LTE.
NanceGreggs
(27,821 posts)It's a really good piece - she hit all the right notes!
VOX
(22,976 posts)Her words brought to mind a new concern: all this blunt existential apprehension and anxiety obviously cant be healthy for kids during their more impressionable years.
If their young minds must remain so hypervigilant to just get through each school day, the stress could cut neural pathways that trigger anxiety, which in turn generates avoidance behaviors.
On top of all the lives taken and the physical injuries inflicted as direct result of these endless shootings, what the hell will happen when the psychological damage begins to more fully emerge, and kids develop debilitating behavioral disorders in epidemic numbers?
Your daughter is amazingly perceptive. Im so sorry that she has to live in such fear on a daily basis. But never give up, ever.
Mortos
(2,391 posts)These kids give me hope.
CrispyQ
(36,582 posts)I love young activists!