April 8th, 2024—Maybe it’s just a date to most, but for us, it marked the second lockdown since I’ve been at this school. A person got onto campus holding a mysterious object. Thankfully, it turned out to be nothing and they were found. We all took the precautions to stay safe. We all had a feeling nothing would happen to us because there was so much safety involved.

September 4th, 2024. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the reality for Apalachee High School in Georgia. In 2nd period, the high school students of Apalachee heard gunshots and blood-curdling screams from their classmates—the shooter, Colt Gray, shot and killed 2 teachers and two students. One student, Malaysia Mitchell stated, “Colt shot my teacher multiple times. I’ll never be able to erase the image of my teacher begging for help. We had to drag our teacher’s body fully into the classroom.”

The trauma these teachers and students had to go through on that horrendous day will never be erased. I interviewed a teacher, Ms Cairns, at Santa Rosa Academy stating, “…The fact that my entire life is defined by school shootings makes everything terrifying. I just think it’s not something most people don’t consider.”

Is it fair for teachers to have to fear going into work everyday? Is it fair that kids should go into school fearing for their lives everyday? Is it fair that parents have to fear sending their kids to school? No it’s not. The world we live in should not normalize this. School is meant to be a safe place for students—but this idea has since been shattered.

Is it fair that Mason Schermerhorn, Christian Angulo, Richard Aspinwalla, and Christina Irimie had to take their last breaths confined in those school walls? Someone on September 4th, lost their brother or mom or dad that day—their last goodbye would be final.

1,910 students will forever be traumatized from September 4th, 2024. What will we do to change this “normalized event” that happens all around America from scaring our country forever? There have been 45 school shootings in the United states since the start of 2024. That means roughly 38,250 students have been traumatized from this recurring event. Everyone of those students wishes they could have told their friend how much they loved them that day.

A lot of people think they have solutions for the school shooting problem but what can we at Santa Rosa Academy do? We need to make sure that every single student at this school feels valued and loved to try to ensure that it never gets to the point of frustration that they commit an unspeakable act. Show your friends how much you care for them and tell your teachers how much they impact you everyday. And above all make sure you take care of yourself, because you matter.