my school received a gun threat today.
The moment the announcement that we were going on lockdown was made, everything went into chaos. One of the seniors pushed me to the middle of the class and told me to stay there, and in the midst of that, I lost sight of where my best friend was. She came back, along with a wave of terrified students running for their lives.
The moment the doors were closed and locked and the lights were turned off, I finally processed what was going on. Within the storm of panic and fear, the sudden quiet seemed to wake all of us up. This could be the end for us. One by one, I saw the students pull out their phones and rapidly text their loved ones goodbye. To see teenagers like me go through that was heartbreaking.
The moment my dad replied to my text, tears started falling from my eyes. What were my parents feeling now? What would happen if I didnāt make it out alive? To have to go through this pain, to see my friends and classmates go through this pain was something so awful and devastating.
The moment the entire school fell silent, we finally started checking to see if our friends were okay. It was chaos within calm within chaos. To know our friend were okay was relieving, but to be in the dark about the situation at hand was suffocating.
The moment the rumors started spreading, the restlessness began. People were shifting and whispering as the rumors slowly spread through the class. Thereās a shooter here. The school received a call saying that someone was going to shoot up the school. A guy has a duffel bag with bombs and guns. There was a shooter at McDonalds that fled to our school. But the scariest was the one that affected me directly: The shooter is in D Hall.
The moment that rumor arrived at our room ā D-15 ā, a different kind of fear started to spread. This icy hot fear that stabbed at our hearts could not be stopped, and we could do nothing but sit and wait. So we sat and waited for someone, something, anything to tell us we were safe.
The moment the door suddenly unlocked felt like an eternity. The door was opening agonizingly slowly, yet all too quickly. This is it, I thought. Either I get to live, or I die now.
The moment I saw the face of the SWAT team, everything inside me collapsed. We would live to see another day. My sister would graduate tomorrow. The seniors in my drama club would graduate tomorrow. We would get to go home for summer vacation. It wasnāt over.
The moment the lights in our classroom turned back on, the wariness began to spread. Were we really okay? What was going on? When could we leave this class? The questions started flying, and one by one, they were answered with ambiguity. All we could do was wait until we were dismissed.
The moment we stepped outside the school, our freedom was plagued by cameras. Three huge cameras were amidst the crowd, recording our every movements. My conversation with my frantic and panicked aunt was being televised. All I could do was glare and turn away, hoping that they would turn their cameras away from me.
My school did not have an active shooter. The police found no evidence of real threat to our school. Even still, to crouch down in that dark class with 40 other students, hoping that I would live another day, was one of the most traumatizing experiences of my life. We always hear about these events in the news, but never do we think it would happen to us. I write this to tell you that it will. It will happen ā unless we do something to stop it. Iām not asking for the abolishment of the Second Amendment; I know thatās not possible. But Iām asking for a revision. Iām asking for a new law, a new regulation ā anything to stop this.
This time, it was a threat, but next time, it could be an active shooter. My fourth grade brother could have to go through the same thing I went through. People could die ā no, people will die if we donāt do something about gun control.
Please, for the safety and the lives of every student in America, advocate for gun control. Speak to your Representatives, your Senators, governors, mayors, local governments ā anything to stop this. Donāt let any more children have to go to school terrified and hoping to live another day.
amandla
gummygunk
blakekathryn
andulkaphoto
ellievsbear
origamiaround
