First and foremost, I would like to dedicate this article to the victims of the devastating shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018:
Alyssa Alhadeff (14), Scott Beigel (35), Martin Duque Anguiano (14), Nicholas Dworet (17), Luke Hoyer (15), Aaron Feis (37), Jaime Guttenberg (14), Christopher Hixon (49), Cara Loughran (14), Gina Montalto (14), Joaquin Oliver (17), Alaina Petty (14), Meadow Pollack (18), Helena Ramsay (17), Alexander Schachter (14), Carmen Schentrup (16), Peter Wang (15)
Mass shootings have become part of the new normal in America, and many are quick to dismiss this crisis as an inevitable mental health issue or part of the reason why America needs to be made great again. I refuse to accept that this is the direction in which our nation is heading, and I refuse to use the logic which asserts that “bad people will find a way to do bad things” to prevent others from seeking change. The phrase “another mass shooting” has become entirely too common in our everyday conversations– to the point that their meaning does not even register properly in the American psyche. We have found ourselves trapped in a cycle of shootings, heated debates, and eventual neglect of the issue.
“Another mass shooting” suggests that this is somehow business as usual or some kind of normalized behavior. Just the phrase itself indicates how desensitized our reactions have become. This phrase has slipped into vernacular regularity, jeopardizing the way we process tragic events in this country. I will not be complicit in the usage of this phrase by accepting it as normal. This phrase has no place in our dialogue. Regardless of where anyone stands on the issue of gun rights/gun control, I would like to think that most people would agree that some form of action absolutely must be taken in order to make “another mass shooting” an expression of the past. Let us not neglect human compassion in the era of digital everything, along with social media obsession, alienation, and polarization. Nayyyirah Waheed powerfully states in one of her poems, “compassion. is the longest emotion there is.” We will mourn, and we will heal slowly, but we cannot forget what connects us all as Americans and as humans.
Think of yourself as a teenager in high school: freshman year jitters, getting a driver’s license, going to prom, applying to colleges. We share these experiences. Think of your teachers and the staff members who shaped your time in school. These are real people who lost real lives. They are not mere statistics. Compassion will drive us to react and demand better from our government and political communities when we hear the phrase “another mass shooting.” When we stop seeing victims as numbers and instead understand them as our peers and equals, we can begin to shift the dialogue and erase this phrase from our vocabulary.
On a more hopeful note, I believe the courageous students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, who have organized the #NeverAgain movement, will create actual change on gun control policies in America. These students are not only survivors, but also future voters, policymakers, and political leaders. The March for Our Lives on March 24 will only be the beginning for these activists, as their experiences from this tragedy will drive them to demand more from our government and our society as a whole.