Photo Source: The LA Times
The views and opinions in this article do not reflect the official position of Her Campus or Stephen F. Austin State University.
While this is a very popular subject at the moment, as it should be, I feel that it’s time to address something that I think everyone experiences: the fear that one day it could be your school that is the site of a mass shooting. It’s insane that I’m actually having to type this out, but I’m hoping that I’m not the only one. I’m hoping that by putting this fear into words, I can possibly explain what I feel like every student thinks when these things happen. I used to label this as an irrational fear, but I’ve come to realize that it’s not irrational at all. And that’s what scares me.
I never once thought that my school was unsafe in any way, but I can’t ignore that awful feeling in my stomach that reminds me that it could happen to anyone. It gets to the point where I seem to be unconsciously planning out a hiding spot just in case. I find myself becoming paranoid when I walk into a closed building like the library. What strikes me is that my thinking is completely logical, but it’s sad that it’s become such a normal thought and that I have to worry about this at all.
For the next few weeks you, like myself, will probably be battling people on social media or even in person about the issue of guns in our country. For some reason I find myself unable to tell these people that I’m simply afraid for my life, but maybe because that’s just not enough for some people to want change. The fact that I have to walk my own campus in fear is not sufficient, and therefore I am silenced and forced to listen to the multitudes of “it is what it is.” I think this is what bothers me most.
So what can we do to perhaps calm these fears? You can get your start by registering to vote. We have to get rid of the gun-show loopholes and make background checks stronger. This time, students are not going to give up their right to feel safe at school so that someone can own an unnecessary weapon, so we must do everything we can to ensure our safety in a place where we should not have to live in fear.