 |
| How I Imagined My Peers - Image Courtesy of BlackSphere |
Given that the warning was issued at 10 pm the night before, it was only natural that a wave of panic arose amongst parents and students who assumed the worst and decided to stay away from school fearing their lives. It goes without saying that my family also engaged in discussion on whether or not to attend school. As for me, although I wasn't personally scared, I wasn't going to pass up a free excuse to not go to school. My mother, however, didn't buy it. She argued that there is a risk of something happening at school every single day, and that today was no different. In fact, since the person had made the announcement months in advance the school and police forces had been given ample time to prepare. My mom stood in the kitchen and confidently declared that Tuesday was probably the safest day possible to be at school. I wasn't scared in the slightest and agreed with her but I didn't want to go to school so I played the "But Mom! I'm scared that I'm going to die" card and after much deliberation, mom conceded and said we didn't have to go as long as I focused on my AP Geography test from home. Besides, red days were one of those days where I would just sit in class doing nothing, so I'd be way more productive at home.
As it was still 6 AM, I sprinted up the stairs, but just as I was about to jump back into my pajamas and go to sleep, my dad arose from his deep slumber and yelled, "Not so fast." He explained that a second email had been sent out by the superintendent explaining that all students attending school were one hundred percent safe and that those involved in the potential threats were under direct adult supervision at their homes. Although this was fortunate in the sense that nobody was going to die, it unfortunately meant that I would have to go to school.
My sister and I reluctantly got in our father's car and drove to school. When I arrived, the school was more than half empty and in my first period there were only seven kids including me. To be fair, the superintendent said that students were safe at 6:45 AM, and although some parents probably knew that, they thought it would be better to be safe than sorry and TMJH can't expect these bewildered parents to know that their child won't die forty five minutes before the first bell. Although there was a slim chance of some person coming and killing everyone, it obviously didn't happen. Everyone panicked for nothing. That begged the question, what would happen if social media didn't exist? One of the main reasons this whole ordeal got blown out of proportion was because of the countless amount of people posting on their Snapchats and Instagrams about how you could potentially die at school. If ten years ago, when social media platforms didn't exist, would we have all gone to school? Sure, the school communicated the threat poorly and that scared people, but if we didn't blow it out of proportion, would everyone have been that frightened?
This entire incident made me think of life in general. Each and every day, there is a risk of danger and death. Hell, you can cross the street and get hit by a bus for all we know. I get that some people were afraid to attend school on Tuesday because of some potential threat, but what if the shooter came on Wednesday, or the day after that? The point I'm trying to make is that life is too short and panic is not the best strategy by which to live our lives. I guess the moral of this silly story is to live life to the fullest, because you never know when you might get shot during your Math test or get hit by a car on your way to school. We can't let fear rule our lives. If we do we have given up control and conceded to those whose only goal is to instill fear.
No comments:
Post a Comment