When most people think of what my generation grew up with, it’s usually the internet or social media. 

But as somebody that is actually in the generation, I think of the overall view of mass shootings and the rates that have increased..

Remember the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting in July 2012? A 25-year-old man went into a midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” and killed 12, injuring 70.

I was 8 at the time, and yet it has stuck with me and left me so scared to the point where I still get nightmares about being in a mass shooting.

Thankfully, I have never been in a mass shooting, but I’m still impacted by them. I get to school, look around the halls and make sure no one looks out of place or looks like something bad is going to happen.

Two years ago when the Oxford, Michigan school shooting happened in December, the first thing I did was look around my third block class at places I could hide or escape if needed. 

I jumped in fear at loud noises for a week after, scared that something like what happened at Oxford High would happen at Derby.

DHS isn’t an outlier. In the 2019-2020 school year, a gun was found on campus. In January, a hollowed-out grenade was found on campus.

I am absolutely terrified I’m going to be at the school learning – and the next minute, I’ll become a statistic on the news. 

I should not have to worry more about if I’m going to die at school that day than the amount of homework I’m going to have that night. 

Nobody should.