Over the course of this week, there have been three school shootings at colleges. 12 people have died and 13 have been injured. After editing Sabrina's article last week, I too have become fed up with all this nonsense surrounding college shootings. Last Monday, Arcadia was vaguely threatened by a gunman who didn't do anything. Well, that's not true. He created widespread fear and uncertainty. Teachers canceled class, people hid inside. And all because of a threat made on 4chan. What he did is terrorism. Terror hits who violence doesn't. There was no physical violence, but we were all hit by terrorism.
I would like to go on a rant about mental illness and gun control laws, but instead just watch this video.
Courage is continuing on in the face of fear. So in my efforts to be courageous, I went to class on Monday. There was about a third of each class there. The terrorism worked. Our lives were disrupted by one person who had made an empty threat. And yes, I understand that people who actually have panic attacks had a good reason to skip. I get that. But to everyone else, we let that guy win.
When I was in Israel, an incursion started with Hamas. There were rockets being launched and soldiers on active duty. But nothing felt bad. There was no overlying sense of fear in everybody. Israel is about the size of New Jersey, so when a war starts happening everything is close together. It's not like you can run away to a safe area. However, despite being in an active war zone, where there was a constant threat of bombing, I had never felt more safe. Not only was I positive that the people walking around with guns were active soldiers on duty, but there also was a massive warning system in control built for protection. Sure, I couldn't go to the beach because it was too close to the Gaza Strip, but that was ok because we just went to a nice garden instead. And it was there, after my group moved north to be out of the potential threat area, that the warning system went off. There was no rushed panic. Just Israelis helping us Americans get to the safest place.
Everyone was courageous.
That's what we need. Everyone needs to be courageous and continue on with their lives despite threats. We need systems in place to protect us from violence, institutionalized and personal. There need to be checks on who can own guns and where they can get them. The people who do have guns need to be reevaluated every few years so that records can stay up to date. But most importantly, we can't keep giving the spotlight to people who do awful things. We can't keep letting them win. We can't be afraid and we must move on with our lives.
Last Monday my school was threatened, and I went to class because I will not give in to terrorism.
