We Remember the Shooters, Never the Victims
Are any of us honestly trying to stop these American massacres?
Fourteen children knelt in prayer. For two of them, it was the last thing they ever did. On the first day of school, another gun-wielding American psycho unleashed on society by ambushing children who were praying. Doctors are removing bullets from kids’ bodies and trying to help them recover from gunshot wounds. Even if these innocent souls recover physically, the damage will last forever.
How did we let this happen again? Those lead-filled children should have prayed harder, I guess. Gross? It’s more honest than offering “thoughts and prayers” after another mass shooting.
Did you know American kids play a game called “Mass Shooter” in classrooms all around the country to help prep for gun violence? Here’s how it goes. School children and teachers stack desks and chairs against the doors. This is to build a barrier between them and a child hunter with a gun. After that, the children look around for items they can use to shield themselves from bullets. If there’s nothing to protect them from gunfire, little boys and girls look for things to attack their gun-wielding classmate or adult trying to murder them. Books. Backpacks. Laptops. There was a debate in one classroom between students about whether the laptops could serve as bulletproof vests. The theory hasn’t been tested yet, but I’m sure will be soon.
That’s the reality for families in America. Proud of that? How many more children need to be gunned down? Yours? If your kid is lucky enough to survive such a traumatic experience, what kind of effect do you think that’ll have on their life? Positive for some, but most? Kiss that American Dream goodbye and say hello therapy and medication.
You know what? Mass shooting has been said so often, it doesn’t have the same effect as when these public executions went mainstream in 2013. American massacre paints a more vivid picture of the monthly gunning down of defenseless human beings in America.
Do we ever care about the victims of these heinous cowardly acts? Not unless we know them. After every American massacre we check the location. Thank God it wasn’t me or people I knew. It’s what we’re all thinking. At least those lucky enough to not have to experience our children being gunned down at school.
The victims become data points. In America’s defense, there’s been more than 19,000 people shot to death for being at “the wrong place at the wrong time” since 2015. There’s been over one hundred American cowards, who I might not know everything about, but when I hear their name I know their crime. Why? Because there’s only one coward per American massacre and way too many victim names to remember. How fucking sick is that? We don’t fix the problem. No, we immortalize cowards with books, shows, podcasts, articles, and cult followings. Cowards. Our new American idols. The people we seek to understand. That way, we can prevent a future American massacre from happening or learn the signs of a potential coward.
Not.
We use these horrific disgusting murders of innocent children to defend or prove what we believe. Fuck these cowards’ politics, sexes, genders, interests, and everything else about them. Their names need to be forgotten. They kill unarmed men, women, and children. But wait, did the coward’s story and motive confirm my own prejudices? That’s usually the most important part. Being right.
When a coward uses people as pawns in a murder fantasy, we attack the Constitution, politicians, disabled Americans, white men, the news, gun-toting Republicans, or whatever else challenges our personal beliefs. The outrage is justified. Innocent people are being gunned down weekly. Going out to a crowded place in America is the Millennial version of Russian roulette.
There’s guns, mental illness, assholes, and Conservatives all over the world. Why aren’t there mass shootings anywhere else? They happen so often that I practically ignore them when there’s a new episode on my screen. All the seasons are the same. 97.7% of American gun massacres are committed by men. Should we monitor every man in our free country?
What else do these cowards have in common? There’s a lot of belief that Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are an underlying cause of American massacres. I’m disabled and take a SSRI medication. Should I be watched daily? I did research about mass shootings for this article. Does my interest make me a potential future coward? I’ve also expressed my displeasure with my government that seems to put profit ahead of societal needs. I check a lot of “coward” boxes. Perhaps I should be thrown into a cell before I commit a mass shooting?
Profiling is a slippery slope. It also doesn’t address the root cause of these public executions.
Even worse, the American culture machine is transforming another barbaric display of violent killings into a play along true crime game. Newsrooms’ hearts are mostly in the right place, believing they are doing their job and showing the horror mass shootings cause. But countless studies show how the media’s failures in covering mass shootings responsibly have led to more gun purchases and enabled copycat killings. Funny how the science doesn’t matter here. Mass shootings get ratings. It’s that simple. With so much coverage over these slaughters, how have we not solved them or at the very least have more of understanding of why they happen?
It’s disgusting when a reporter interviews a child after an American massacre. Is shoving a microphone in the face of a kid who just survived a gunman murdering friends really the best thing for the child?
Many kids want to speak up afterwards. That’s their innocence and bravery. These children know what happened was wrong, but they can’t process it. Because they’re children. They talk about it hoping the adults in the room will make it better. Can any of us honestly say we’re giving our best to stop these public executions of children? disgusting. What kind of sick society allows this?
We’ve been doing a really good job protecting our youth. I wonder why the younger generations that have been through this are so indifferent about America?
Our politicians need to fix this. Now. The inaction of our policymakers has been a giant fuck you to murdered children, mass shooting survivors, traumatized families, and the next generation of Americans. Why change anything when our elected officials can give condolences after people are murdered in cold blood in the country they govern. “Thoughts and prayers” aren’t the only empty words. “Lives lost” is another trigger. These children’s lives weren’t lost. A boy and girl were shot to death. Wrong place, wrong time. In this case, praying at school. In 2016, it was a gay nightclub. In 2017, it was a country music festival in Vegas. It’s been workplaces, schools, places of worship, stores, hospitals, outdoor events, government buildings and anywhere and everywhere in our great American nation. No one is safe.
Murdered children deserve more than being pawns in political agendas, data points on American mass shootings, or confirmations of our personal biases. It’s the victims’ names we should remember, but that’s not as easy or sexy as uncovering the truth behind what makes someone snap.
There’s no one magic bullet to solve this, but this won’t be the last American massacre either. Not until we look in the mirror and stop fighting each other about the coward shooters and instead focusing on why we keep allowing these public executions to happen. We’re the adults in the room. By not figuring out how to stop people from shooting people to death, we’re passing the buck down to the next generation.
The first step to fix this is admitting the truth. Mass shootings in America are a national emergency.