I recently watched a video on YouTube called “Evan”. It was a PSA about preventing school shootings. It came from the Sandy Hook Promise organization. In the video, there is a boy in High School, named Evan. He goes to the library and scratches “I am bored” into the one desk with his pen. He comes into the library the next day and sees that someone has replied to it. He continues having a conversation with the girl. At year book singing, he signs all the yearbooks in a way that looks like the handwriting he used to scratch the desk. One girl opens it and her friend, standing next to her says, “You must be bored?” and they have a small conversation, until a kid walks through the door in the background and loads his gun. Everyone screams and goes into panic.

                With two minutes left, I was wondering what could possibly happen, since it had faded. But they bring up some text. It said something along the lines of, “While you were watching Evan, another kid was planning a school shooting.” And it goes back through the video, highlighting one kid, in particular. In each scene, you could see something disturbing in the background, at least in the context of this video. He would make a gun out of his fingers and pretend to shoot the teacher, or be reading a magazine on guns. In the context of this PSA, it seems disturbing looking back, because you know that, sooner or later, he’s going to shoot up the school.

                I also watched a video from BuzzFeed. I don’t particularly like BuzzFeed all that much, but some of their videos are very powerful. This one, called, “Me & Mass Shootings”, where Eugene, a reoccurring person in their videos, talks about how many mass shootings have happened since he was born. He said his dad told him not to worry about shootings because they don’t happen very often, but this was said to him a long time ago.

                Between both of these videos, it got me thinking. What would it feel like to be in such a gruesome situation? Would I have the instincts and guts to get out of the school alone or would I sit huddled up in the room? I can’t wrap my mind around thoughts such as these. We go through safety procedures and lockdown drills, but nothing could ever come close to the feeling of actually going through a life or death situation.

                Whether it be in school, or out in the city, mass shootings have been becoming more and more frequent. I was born in 2001. I have currently lived through approximately 48 mass shootings. That averages to about 3 per year. That’s a lot. That’s more than it should be. It should be none. Sadly, though, it’s not, nor will it ever be. 24.4% of the shooting in the U.S. have been at schools. And just in 2016, so far, 63 people have been killed.

                It’s a growing epidemic. Someone needs to stop the violence. America needs to be at peace with itself again, before we start another Civil War. I think the main problem is the people who are shooting and creating panic. We should find a way to help people who feel neglected or violent. Maybe it would make a difference.

Timeline of Shootings

Me & Mass Shootings

Evan

For further reading, Google search, “Mass Shootings in the U.S.”