Please Excuse This Interruption…
Is it just me, or do you become terrified every time that dreaded intercom turns on?
Why don’t we talk about how we feel for a second.
The silence fills the atmosphere of my class when the intercom beeps to notify the entire school of some message.
Every time that announcement comes on, “Please excuse this interruption,” a similar series of questions run through my mind. Is someone being called to the main office again or is it going to be the day I have to huddle in a hidden corner of my classroom? Is there a weather issue, or is North Allegheny going to be in the news the next morning?
I haven’t even stated what this article is about and you already know what I’m referring to, right?
Will we become the 23rd school in America to have bullets shot through it this year? I’m sorry for being so direct, but why should I be sorry when this undeniable incident keeps happening. Why do we keep ignoring it?
Often times when school shootings happen, we don’t consider the effects they have on teachers. When my 28-year-old sister starting teaching Italian six years ago, it was not in her job description to learn how to protect her students from semi-automatics.
“Please excuse this inter-” my teacher is already reaching for his keys to lock the classroom door, just in case. Our teachers’ introduction PowerPoints go from 8 slides to 9, adding on how to exit or where to hide in the event of an intruder. Although it does need to be discussed, I don’t want to talk about politics right now. All we want is to not be scared anymore.
We don’t deserve to have the threat of violence lurking in the back of our minds while we’re at school trying to learn. We would rather learn how to solve linear equations than how to “stop the bleed.”
While reading our English books, the fleeting thought of a lockdown passes through our minds. We push the thought away because it’s uncomfortable. We push it away because we have a chem test next period and can’t afford the distraction right now. We push it away and we don’t deal with it.
My friends send yet another article on the most recent school that has been ambushed to our group chat. People call our generation insensitive or lazy because school shootings keep happening, but have you considered how your generation would’ve handled it? No, because you didn’t have to.
These are our friends getting killed; it’s our books being torn apart by bullets; it’s our education being ripped away from us by lack of action.
Please excuse my interruption, but do not ignore it.
Zoë Tracey is a sophomore at NAI. This is her first year on the NAEye staff her main focuses are culture and entertainment. She is a member of the marching...
Zoë Tracey is a sophomore at NAI. This is her first year on the NAEye staff her main focuses are culture and entertainment. She is a member of the marching...
John D. • Oct 21, 2019 at 3:53 pm
While this is certainly an issue that cannot be overlooked, I feel that this article may be overexaggerating the danger and fear. School shootings have been on the rise in recent years, enough to be significantly noticed on a national level, but that does not mean that this is still statistically a “freak occurrence”. What I’m trying to say is that if you are constantly afraid of the next mass shooting to the point where an announcement on the intercom makes you anxious, you need to put the problem into perspective. It is statistically a near 0% chance that you will even be affected by a mass shooting at any point in your life. This is not an event you should be worried about. Now, this does not mean that it is horrible when it does occur and that the rising prominence of them is a worrying societal trend. This rise to prominence, however, has been exacerbated by the media, who put these stories to the forefront (shocking tragedies generate a lot of clicks). Mass shootings are crimes heavily carried out by copycat perpetrators; the media pushing these stories may get the word out, but they can also inspire others looking to do something horrific. On another point, when you say that this problem is because of a “lack of action”, I am not sure whether you are calling for action to stop this trend or saying that a lack of certain actions in the past is the result of this problem. If you are calling for action now to stop this, I will bluntly tell you cannot do anything about this problem if using the government. New gun laws requiring more restrictions or even confiscations will not be of effect, because those psychopaths who desire to kill people, will. They will simply get guns through illegal means. They don’t even have to use a gun; a knife is just as effective and can sometimes result in higher death tolls. This problem is thoroughly a psychological one and a societal one. The only way to stop this trend is to figure out why these people do what they do. We need to get to the root cause, and guns aren’t it. To the other possible meaning of your statement, that actions in the past are resulting in our problem now, I again say that this would not be true unless you are speaking of the changes in our culture over the last few decades. Our culture and in turn our society has been consistently growing less “healthy”, if you will. People who disagree ideologically no longer can find common ground. Neighbors no longer communicate and are even distrustful of each other. Everyone has grown more isolated. More apart. No one will help others because they are too preoccupied with their own woes. With this changing in culture have come unwanted consequences: single motherhood is up, mental illness is up, etc. I could pinpoint this trend in culture to any number of events in the past: the 60’s sexual revolution, the 90’s rebellious hip-hop era, today’s new political correctness and social justice, or even the split between progressive secular views and conservative religious views that occurred in the early 1900s. This does not mean these events were bad, nor does it mean they were good. They were, and the result of these is the culture and reality that we have to grapple with today. No one has the answers, and maybe no one ever will. Maybe a new shift in the cultural mindset will reverse the trend. Maybe the trend simply reverses on its own. Maybe the trend gets worse. No one can be for certain what will happen, but we do know that no law or governmental policy can fix it. Murder is already illegal, and so is infringing on people’s rights. In fact, nothing can likely fix it. We will most likely always have massacres until the end of time, as there will always be people who commit horrible acts, who simply won’t abide by our moral code. All we can do is maybe be a little nicer, be a little more friendly. Give a little more, take a little less. Trust your neighbor, and maybe your neighbor will trust you. But don’t fret! These are extreme occurrences. You will feel much better if you realize how little of a threat this actually is to you at the moment. But otherwise, very good article. Well done.
Somya • Oct 20, 2019 at 5:20 pm
Amazing article Zoë! ❤️
Devil;s Advocate • Oct 18, 2019 at 10:13 pm
This is so true and needs to be expressed. So much bad stuff happens in the world and in NA(all the dark corners that have not been revealed), its so messed up and hard to feel safe anymore. GREAT WORK!
Karen Cordaro • Oct 18, 2019 at 1:34 pm
Beautifully expressed, Zoe! You are a strong woman and a born leader! ❤️
Alana • Oct 18, 2019 at 11:20 am
This is so good!
Quinn Volpe • Oct 18, 2019 at 6:57 am
This is amazing Zoë
Macy DiRienzo • Oct 17, 2019 at 2:57 pm
Zoë: Your existence in my life is one of the best things that’s ever happened. I am so proud of you and your maturity. The way you see the world is inspiring and I’m in awe of you every day! Keep doing you.
Mia DiRienzo Olson • Oct 17, 2019 at 2:43 pm
This is a brave and powerful piece. Thank you, Zoë, for speaking up. Never stop using the agency of your voice and your story because it’s a beautiful one that’s worth listening to. (And thanks for the shout-out.)