When ‘never again’ turned into ‘it happened again’

Today as I sat in math class, we learned that as we reviewed limits and logarithms, eight people had lost their lives in a school shooting at Santa Fe High School, Texas, yet another senseless tragedy. That number would later go up to 10, as details and red flags started to reveal themselves. 

Nine students that would never graduate, 10 people that would never go home. Countless others that will never be able to feel safe in their own nation. 

We talked about it over our sandwiches at lunch. “I don’t know what I would do if it happened to us,” my friend said. We look around our campus and calculate escape routes. Decide if survivor’s guilt was worth it. 

As we looked around our campus, I remembered the quotes from the students at Santa Fe High School: 

“I’m scared to even go back. It’s just not something that you should feel throughout the day, feeling scared. Especially where we say the Pledge of Allegiance.” 

I guess the red stripes on our flag have come to symbolize bloodshed in our own classrooms. 

There is nothing else left to be said. What’s left to be done is to take action and now. Time’s up.