When is enough, enough?
Gun Violence Shattering Lives While Congress Fails to Act
May 12, 2023
Days following, the tragic shooting, where the lives of six adults and three children lost their lives at Covenant School in Nashville, TN, we have the same incredulous question: When is enough, enough? While survivors deal with trauma, we as Americans, will “tweet” and “repost” the media, demanding gun control. At what point do we see actual change?
This repetitive cycle is exhausting.The number one cause of death in children alone is firearms.
A couple years ago, I vividly remember sitting in the car with my mom, parked on a side street next to a baseball field, listening as NPR covered a story on school shootings. We listened as a teacher survivor spoke about her internal struggle, to lock her door and protect students in her classroom or to unlock her door and try to force as many kids in the hallway into her room. No one should ever have to make that choice. No one should be put in that situation, yet they are. This situation should not exist.
Yet we are asking our teachers who are faced with an increasing amount of pressure, to risk their lives while in an underpaid and overworked profession. I cannot fathom the heavy and suffocating feelings teachers are struggling with.
“A staggering 55 percent of educators are thinking about leaving the profession earlier than they had planned, according to a National Education Association (NEA) survey of its members released on Tuesday. This represents a significant increase from 37 percent in August and is true for educators regardless of age or years teaching, driving buses, or serving meals to students.”
We cannot pretend gun violence is rare anymore. Mass shooting after mass shooting, we mourn, we beg for change, and yet it seems we take one step forward and 3 steps backwards. Innocent lives are not political, the guns robbing them should not be up for controversy. Congress needs to take action.
“In 2023, the K-12 database has recorded 89 gun-related incidents at a school so far, nearly one for every day this year. -NPR”
We are only a couple months into this year, and we are witnessing astronomically high gun deaths on school grounds, more than any other previous years. Fear is installed into a place that should be centered on learning. As a student planning to go into the education field, I am terrified. I believe in change, but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a lot to take in. We can only have so many open conversations, active shooter drills, and bulletproof backpacks. Will there be significant change by the time I have my own classroom? One can only hope. I dream of a world where I am never faced with a decision to keep my door open or closed. My classroom, the safe space.
Tell someone you love them today, and maybe tell your favorite teacher that you are thinking about them and that you appreciate them.
With this heavy article, please reach out to someone you trust or even someone you feel comfortable being vulnerable with, and talk about the ideas you are struggling with. Speak up, use your voice.
