In a recent article, I discussed the very present role new age technology plays in the travel of information and news; which is why when the recent Santa Fe school shooting occurred the public was made aware almost immediately. Within minutes my peers and I received the alert on our phones and our reactions were identical: “Another school shooting.”

The disgusting reality is that the time between this tragedy and the last is nearly obsolete. With little to no recovery period, it can feel like the cycle is continuous. It happens. We mourn. We try to move forward. Repeat. It has become evident that these steps are now second nature to us.

The fight or flight response kicks in when we are faced with a threat but in this case, there is no place for us to flee to. The media reminds us daily that the peril of gun violence is prevalent everywhere, at our schools, our malls, our concerts. And so, we are forced to prevail however we can. We scramble for an answer to break the cycle because time has proven that thoughts and prayers can only do so much.

Some will say the answer is stricter gun laws, others will argue for better-secured facilities. There will be crowds marching the streets for mental health awareness and the press explaining the consequences of bullying. People get overwhelmed by the controversy of it all and it can deter them from taking action. The greater message that often gets lost is that we are supposed to be on the same team.

Instead of protesting one another’s protests, we should be facing the problem together. There is no courage in stealing your peers’ swords when you are trying to slay the same dragon. Those who choose to fight together can tackle the unified issue that is innocent lives being taken every day by mass shootings.

Reform can erupt from the masses and it will be students, parents and teachers, all who have one thing in common:

We are afraid.

We are a society of students petrified to lose our peers. Parents who feel like they send their children into no man's land every time they step out the door. Teachers who watch the news and think, “That could be my students and my colleagues.”

Assuming there is nothing we can do is not an option. We owe it to ourselves and to the generations to come after us to not let these incidents become hashtags that are soon forgotten. Our love and condolences can only be carried so far and hold no substance unless accompanied by action. Such action should be taken in memoriam for those who have lost their lives and for those who fight every day for their own.