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Chatterbox: Down to Earth
my heart is pounding and i'm scared
--
strange how things become real
so quickly
when you see tears
and hear the distant screaming.
would rather have knowledge
than standing and waiting,
heart thumping, heart thumping
in the silence of fear.
can't tell the truth from the lies,
but there's one thing i know:
an hour ago, someone
could have died.
--------------------------------------------
So. An hour ago, someone reported a threat at our school and a bullet was found. We went into lockdown for fifteen minutes and no one knew what was going on. Still, I'm not completely sure what happened... I don't know why I'm telling y'all this other than the fact that I'm still kinda scared because I thought it was a drill at first but then people were crying and there was screaming coming from the cafeteria as people panicked and it all seems like a scene from a movie... so, yeah. I might be overreacting because no one got hurt and there wasn't even a weapon found but it was still scary... Has anyone been in a similar situation? What did it feel like?
submitted by Cassandra the First
(February 27, 2019 - 2:26 pm)
(February 27, 2019 - 2:26 pm)
I'm so sorry nothing like that has ever happened to me but that's so !!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope everything turns out OK I will pray for you to think that kind of stuff happens!!!!!!!!!!!!
{zuxo}
<dxct>
My captchas share their sympathy.
(February 27, 2019 - 6:37 pm)
(February 27, 2019 - 6:37 pm)
Oh gosh, Cassandra, I'm so sorry, that must have been terrifying. I'm glad you're okay. I've been in a similar situation before— Sometime last year, I was in English, and someone found a bullet in our classroom. He raised his hand and told the teacher, who subsequently freaked out. There was a lockdown and a mass hunt for any potential weapons. It was less than a week after the Parkland shooting so it was at the forefront of everyone's minds. It turned out to be a false alarm— There was a seventh grader who had gotten said bullet as a gift from his grandfather as a "lucky charm". And then yesterday there was a bomb threat at the hospital a few blocks down so no one was allowed to leave campus.
Ookz says yght. Yoghurt?
(February 28, 2019 - 7:40 pm)
Oh, Cass, I'm so sorry that you were put into that position. It makes my heart ache that so many people in our generation have been in a similar position of fear.
There's this mall right by my house. It's so close that I could walk there, and I have walked there many times. It's a local hangout for a lot of teens and adults alike.
A few weeks ago, there was a shooting there.
It wasn't something that you would have heard on the news-- no one was killed, no one was hurt. But the fact that it happened, that I could have been there and I could have been killed...
That's terrifying.
It's absolutely terrifying.
Another shooting happened, same place, in the middle of the day. Broad daylight, and no one's been arrested. It's been weeks since then. And I'm frightened that another shooting will happen-- and that this time, there will be casualties.
And odds are? If it's not me that's killed, it will be someone that I know to some degree. We're a small, close-knit teen community.
So this is my plea. I don't stand for any political side, I don't stand for any religious organization. I stand for myself, and for all the teens who have been affected by gun violence.
DO SOMETHING.
Do something, anything, just not nothing. Talk to your parents, your teachers, your friends-- address your concerns and let your voice be heard. Don't go silent. There are people there for you, people who will listen to you and care about you. And if no one irl, we will. I will. If you're ever feeling sad, or scared, or concerned about something, come find me. On NaNo, on a thread, anywhere. Come find me and we'll talk.
And this just doesn't apply to Cass, either. It applies to all of you. Come find me-- come find your parents, your teachers, your friends, and speak out. Speak out about your feelings, your thoughts, your injustices.
I refuse to be terrified anymore. What about you?
~Starseeker
(As a quick PS, I don't mean to offend anyone by this little post. I am incredibly sorry if it made you uncomfortable or made you feel like I'm trying to force my beliefs on you. I'm not, I promise-- everyone has a right to their own beliefs and values. <3)
(March 1, 2019 - 10:57 am)
Y'know there's something wrong about me.
I probably would have been happily excited. I've done that before...
SOmething's wrong with me....
THAT's TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!! It is so creeepy mebbe I wouldn't have been excited if it could've happened to me!
Yeah, probably not!
(March 1, 2019 - 11:44 am)
Cassandra, I'm so sorry. No one should have to experience that, even though it was "just" a false alarm.
And I agree with all the rest of you who have undergone similar experiences. Something does need to be done. The question is "what?" and "by whom?"
The popular response to the first question, regardless of political stance, tends to focus on the firearms involved. Personally, I don't think this is all that helpful. While it's good to review our firearm-purchasing system and determine where the pitfalls are, I believe that it's the person, not the gun, that deserves our attention. With mental health and personal communication at a record low, it's no surprise that there've been so many shootings. More resources need to be devoted to helping people who might be involved in a conflict.
Which leads us to the second question, "by whom?" For this one, the response of many people seems to be "someone else." It's easy to talk, but ultimately, we expect others, notably the government or other authority figures, to make everything right. But regardless of what officials decide to do, people will continue to suffer unless each and every one of us steps up ourselves to do what's right. Ultimately, it's up to families, friends, classmates, teachers, and coworkers, to prevent a tragedy before it begins to happen. We don't think about it a lot, but it's actually a lot easier to post hashtags and attend protest rallies then it is to get your hands dirty helping a depressed friend, or to get help for a classmate struggling with rage and/or emotional trauma. To provide effective, real-time aid requires people to sacrifice huge portions of their time, energy, emotion, and resources. But it's something we should all be ready, willing, and able to do. It's a human problem, and it deserves a human response.
(March 1, 2019 - 2:56 pm)
Beautifully articulated as always, Esthelle. Thank you for that <3
(March 1, 2019 - 7:38 pm)
Thanks, Abigail!
(March 1, 2019 - 10:48 pm)
That sounds... terrifying. I really want to give you and all of your classmates a hug right now. It's just so terrible that we have to worry about these things.
*Virtual hugs and cookies*
(March 1, 2019 - 10:04 pm)
Once, when we had a sub, we went into lockdown for an hour. No one knew what was going on, and we were panicking. Screaming, crying. The sub did absolutely nothing, and just was on her phone, completely careless that we all could die. An hour later, we were on a minor lockdown, just to stay inside classrooms, don't switch, just stay. Every time somebeody knocked on the door, we all panicked and dove for cover. We were scared, and it could've been anyone. The police was at our school. Later, I found out there was an attack threat to our school system, and a specific bomb threat to one school withen the system. I was scared out of my life that day.
(March 2, 2019 - 7:22 am)
I think it’s so messed up that almost everyone I know has a story like that. Last summer, summer of 2017 my two brothers were at a sleep away camp that was all about living out in the wilderness. I was at the girls section only about a mile away. They were out on their “solos”, or when they spend 24 hours alone outside and make your own food and shelter and everything, when the camp director came and got them and told them there was a “small emergency” - there was a man with a semi-automatic rifle walking throug the camp. They had no idea what was going on, and with all the shootings that we hear about, how were they to know if it was about to happen to them? Everything was fine, luckily, and they had to evacuate camp for at least a week while the police found the guy - turns out he was out coyote hunting and had PTSD or something. I didn’t find out until a couple days later.
And a kid at the high school down the street from mine was arrested for making threats about shooting. Some friends of ours that live in Vermont have a story about their school where specific students were threatened, and unti the kid who threatened them was caught they had to wear bullet proof vests and stay in the gym. Imagine how terrifying that must be.
Cassandra, I am so sorry that happened to you and your school and I hope you never need to deal with anything like that again.
(March 2, 2019 - 1:44 pm)
I, thank God, have never had a threat to my school, but I'm so, so sorry that y'all had to go through that. I'll be praying that our world should become a safer place.
(March 3, 2019 - 5:40 pm)