I was having a conversation while driving with my friend the other day. I had told her that I worry about a school shooting occurring on our campus at least once a day. Now, I am admittedly an over-thinker with anxious tendencies, so I asked if I was being ridiculous with my thoughts. Her response: “No. Sadly, no.”
Throughout this past year, it seems as if there was news of another "terrorist attack", meaning an explosion, shooting, mass chaos, etc. at least once a week. The plethora of attacks have brought a lot of questions to my mind, and I believe I'm not the only one reflecting on these events. The most prominent of my thoughts being, "How do we define terrorism?" It seems as if these occurrences, whether they are close to home or thousands of miles away, are becoming an issue that is more relatable to college students than ever before. These acts are ones of terrorism, regardless of the individuals or groups that commit them.
The campus that my friend and I live on is completely open. Anyone can walk in, anyone can walk out. Of course, you need to present proper identification when checking out a library book and parking in certain lots, but other than that, the public has free roam. In fact, most public universities in Massachusetts are set up this way. I am not upset about it; in fact, I like the idea that I have the freedom of driving on and off campus without having to stop and check in, but I can’t look around for a single day without contemplating what that person walking towards me is hiding in his or her backpack, or how the large group of people that I associate myself with in the library would be a perfect “target” for someone who intends on committing a mass murder. It’s horrifying, and yet it is embedded in me as a student and as a member of society in general.
Turn on the news and what do you see? Well, currently, the occasional lighting of a Christmas tree or Holiday Toy Drive, but typically, violence and terrorism. Why does it seem like there is an increasing amount of terrorism as each day passes? It is because we are overpopulated? Is it because of a spike in technology and the mass use of social media and ability to track people anywhere in the world? Is there something in the food we eat?
I don’t think anyone truly has the answer to these questions. Though, it’s not exactly settling to know that across the country, students just like me have been through such disturbing violent experiences simply because they are students.
I suppose the deeper question that I want to know the answer to is this: will students always feel this way?
Judging by the way things are going, it seems as if this type of worrying is going to increase not only on college campuses, but possibly in high schools and grade schools as well.
Ideally, there would be a simple solution. We would not have to consider and train ourselves to stay protected from horrific situations such as mass shootings, even though we are living in a time where these types of events seem to occur almost more rapidly than homecoming dances, ugly sweater parties, and 21st birthdays. College students, and any students, should not be subjected to violence for simply educating themselves. It is the sad truth to know that there is not much we can do to change this either, except hope.
