On a day when most of us were joking about candy and giving cards to our loved ones, a school full of teenagers, just like us, had their lives changed forever. This past Valentine’s Day, yet another senseless tragedy occurred in Parkland, Florida; a 19 year old killed 17 in total, with an AR 15 rifle(not surprisingly used in many other infamous shootings this past decade).

We all had a mass death that changed our lives. For my parents, it wasn’t nearly as common to have school shootings. My cousins remember Columbine like it was yesterday; Virginia Tech was the first time I truly learned of mass shootings for myself.

For my generation, the Sandy Hook shooting changed the way people view mass shootings. I was in fourth grade when my parents pulled me aside and told me a lot of kids would be talking about a shooting in Connecticut, but that they didn’t want me to be scared. That morning was the time I realized that no man, woman or child was completely safe; that was the day mass casualties stopped shocking me; that was the last time I felt 100% safe at school.

Every time a mass shooting happens, there’s a similar, and undeniably predictable stream of events:

Thoughts and prayers to the families and friends of those involved in, “Insert town name here,” shooting
Families and friends saying Thoughts and Prayers aren’t helping anything
This is a mental health issue said by some politicians(on both sides)
Others fight back claiming that it’s also a gun issue
Far-Right supporters claim 2nd Amendment and that, “Guns don’t kill people.”
A few days of arguing between the sides
“Now is not the time to talk about this. Now is the time to grieve.”
Everyone forgets about it until another mass murder inevitably happens.

I, for one, am so exhausted of these eight steps; as it turns out, so are the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School(Parkland), shooting.

Whether on the far-right side, far-left side, or somewhere in the middle, you must agree on some points.

In true fashion of this administration, there were undeniably some outlandish statements. It’s known that the security guard was outside the school building when the shooting occurred; this to me proves that extra security guards won’t necessarily prevent school shootings. Although I truly believe the security guard should’ve been in the building, and doing his job, no one truly knows what the circumstances of this situation were.

We have to work together for change to happen.