There is always this indescribable feeling when I see something hit so close to home on the news. As a student and a person with younger cousins in elementary school, it pains me to think about something as awful as a school shooting. It hurts more when I know that they were just kids with friends, families and a life ahead of them and teachers who had a life and were trying to do their jobs.  

     Throughout elementary, middle and high school, teachers teach drills to keep us safe if something devastating were to happen. We are taught how to hide, run, stay quiet and even throw things at an intruder as a last resort in any active shooter emergency. However, those drills that are hammered into our brains are supposed to be the worst-case scenario, right?

     According to Education Week, an independent news organization, there have been 119 school shootings since 2018, and there have been 27 school shootings this year. 

     We should not live in this reality, but sadly, we do. People have seen it before, and they are growing numb to it all, and it is scary. While sometimes it is easier to shield yourself from the pain of thinking about what is happening in this country, we need to take in the severity of these recent events. 

     There should never be a need to be trained in a situation like this. Something like this should never have happened in the first place. The central question remains: why? Why do we have such a messed up world where this is something we feel the need to be prepared for? Why do we have people in this world who do this? Why are these school shootings happening at such an increasing rate? There should never be an instance where a parent says goodbye to their children as they get on the bus and not realize that it will be the last time they have that chance. School should always be safe.

     In an article from CNN by senior news writer Holly Yan and associate writer Aya Elamroussi, they gave insight into how bad shootings have gotten recently. 

     “President Joe Biden visited Uvalde on Sunday to offer his sympathy and support. Just 12 days earlier, Biden visited New York state after a racist massacre at a Buffalo grocery store killed 10 people,” Yan and Elamroussl said.

     It is hard not to feel guilty when I am enjoying my summer break when some students and teachers did not even get to finish their school year and the rest of the life they deserved. I do not understand why these tragedies occur. Sympathy is not enough for these victims’ families. Something needs to change, and soon.