The year of 2018 is not even halfway over, and it is already fraught with the terrors of having more than one school shooting per week. There have been 23 school shootings so far. About two weeks ago, on Friday, May 18th, a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, was horrified by the shootings of a 17-year-old student, Dimitrios Pagourtzis. 10 students were killed, 10 were hurt, and the rest of the students and faculty were left forever altered. Pagourtzis was a seemingly quiet and sweet kid on the football team. He confessed to having avoided the people he likes when on his shooting spree, and he began shooting in the arts wing of classes. Multiple inactive explosives were found on the school grounds. The suspect has been accused of capital murder of several people and assault of a public servant. His goal was to kill his classmates and then himself.
The day of this tragedy I was sitting in American History class, viewing the live footage of what was happening after the actual shooting occurred. Parents and children were meeting one another at a local school's gymnasium. Most of them were embracing in tears. Other parents were looking for children that were already dead.
Watching this footage really jarred me, especially as I am nearing the end of my last year of high school. One of the saddest parts of the most recent shootings to me is how close all of these high school seniors are to their next stage in life. High school should not be the end and senior year should not be haunted by the deaths of multiple classmates. When students at Santa Fe High School were asked if they were shocked about the shooting, they replied that they were not and that since shootings are becoming such a frequent occurrence they were almost expecting it to happen.
I have less than 10 days of school left. My classmates, I, and every other senior kid in the US should not be worrying that we are not going to make it to graduation. It is concerning that we have come to an era where teens are expecting their school to be the next victim of a shooting. This Texas shooting has made me feel a genuine fear that I am never going to get to go to UNC. I want to experience living in a dorm, watching Duke and Carolina games, and trying every restaurant on Franklin Street. I want the true college experience that every innocent high school kid deserves to have. Action needs to be taken to ensure that we all get that experience. Nothing has happened and 23 schools have faced shootings. Stricter gun control laws are necessary. High schoolers need help to live the full, long lives that they deserve.
