In the wake of the tragic Santa Fe High school shooting in Texas many were left terrified and heartbroken, yet, unsurprised that it has happened again. According to CNN, there has been, on average, 1 mass shooting in the US every week this year.
Student Andrew Schneidawind started the trending hashtag #IfIDieInASchoolShooting in the hope of bringing attention to public safety, and the tragic effect each mass school shooting has on all of us. The hashtag became trending on Twitter, and hundreds of students have already shared the things they would miss out on if they were killed. Many reflected on the loved ones they would leave behind, and others shared the experiences and goals they would never be able to accomplish.
The students took the chance to pressure legislators to pass an effective gun control reform. And no matter on which side of the gun law reform debate you are, these testimonies will definitely make you feel heartbroken.
Student Andrew Schneidawind started the hashtag #IfIDieInASchoolShooting
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So true, the killers are always remembered and victims too soon forgotten.
I saw people painting the faces of people who died in shooting on a wall, but some people started yelling at them for no reason, and then wiped the paintings off.
oh lord, ugly crying. This is so senseless. These students are asking for the right to live their lives, and this can be achieved with common sense and the will of politicians.
yes, you will be robbed of your life and all of us who could have benefitted from your contributions and presence will be robbed of that too.
F*ck you John Smith, you just ruined everyone's next few days and disrespected the kids who have had their lives shortened by the horrible people who are taking out their anger on innocent students, teachers, and citizens. You clearly have no sympathy for the families who have lost their loved ones. So again I say, F*CK YOU.
Spend every moment of every day....learning to love yourself. Begin NOW.
YES, VOTE THE PEOPLE OUT WHO REFUSE CHANGE TO SAVE THE CHILDREN !!!
I was literally born into a war and I had a happier and more care free childhood than these kids. It's tragic that gun politics sound like dark humour for it's bizarity and nonsense. The tragic part is that it's real. Come on, American politicians! Wake up from the American dream and see what's happening in the real world. "You better wake up and smell the real flavour".
If I die in a school shooting. I'll never be able to see justice for the politicians that killed me.
If I die in a school shooting, I'll never get to live my life to the fullest, reform the United States government, be a woman polititian who openly supports gun control, gay rights, women's equality, and make all people who have commited rape or abuse pay for their actions. I will never be able to see my loved ones again, I will never be able to make a difference. I will be a name in the ever-growing sea of illogical deaths.
How many kids have to die before Congress listens? I fear a prominent public figure will have to lose a child this way before anything happens. And I don't wish that on anybody.
All very profound -- and very sad that they should even have to think about it
We need sensible gun control laws (not allowing minors to buy guns, closing the gun show loop hole among other points), but we can't get them b/c we have a Congress dominated by the NRA on the question of gun control. But a large part of why it's dominated by the NRA is b/c kids like this, once they turn 18, almost never actually vote in a midterm election. I seriously doubt that's going to really change, but kids, prove me wrong! Don't just tweet, vote! Organize! Canvass! Pressure Ds and Rs to stop kowtowing to the NRA.
Keep this up students. Change must happen. These students have the right to live into adulthood, and their politicians are denying them that right.
If I died in a school shooting, I'd miss my family, my friends, performing for others, my girlfriend <3, fighting for acceptance as a genderqueer, fighting for equal rights. But I would miss keeping my friends and helping them through the struggle of depression the most. I would miss everyone I love, I would miss the little joys in life, and I'd miss all the opportunities I never got to take.
If I die in a school shooting, Nobody will be left to take care of my mom. She isn’t able to take care of herself. My biggest fear. What would happen to her if I was gone?
If I die in a school shooting, I'll always regret that I didn't stand up for someone who was being bullied, that I didn't reach out to a bully or show more love to people who are in pain. I'll always regret that I chose to hide in fear from people who scare me rather than show a little tenderness and love to both the bullied and the bullies.
If I die in a school shooting I will never see my 8 year old brother grow into a wonderful human being
Every murder is tragic. Sadly, I have read more thoughts of how to fix the problem based on ignorance of history and facts which is driving fear based opinions instead of real solutions.
The statistical likelihood of any given public school student being killed by a gun, in school, on any given day since 1999 was roughly 1 in 614,000,000 while car accidents kill an average of 8 teens per day in the US. The good news is that teen deaths (from any cause) have shrunk by 22% since just 2005. Unfortunately, childhood obesity has reached pandemic proportions, the numbers of children who are overweight has increased from just 5% in 1990 to 18.5% in 2016. I am not diminishing the horror of school shootings, nor do I think that even one death from gun violence is acceptable, but it is important to not lose sight of reality. The real enemy to school kids is not a fellow student with a gun.
As a librarian at a local college, knowing that a shooting could happen is always going through my head. If I die in a school shooting, I will never get married and have kids. My book won't be finished and I won't be able to live a wonderful life. If I die in a school shooting, it will be because I put the students' lives before myself.
I have only one question. Why? Why must children have to go to school fearing for their lives? Why must politicians make it about money? Why must we hurt others? Why?
A brief history lesson that I hope will help. There was a plague hiv/aids. Because the people that were affected first were mostly an unpopular minority the politicians did not put money into finding a cure.
People always thinking that taking alway the toll will stop a creator. That is the same for guns. While the guns laws in America are way too loose, the more importante question is: Why kids are killing kids? Until that is adressed, There will be deaths. With guns, cars, knives, rocks and fists.
If I died in a school shooting, I would never write the famous book I had dreamed of. I would never write a song that inspired young artists like me. I would leave my brother without a role model. My cat and my dog would wonder when I would come home from school. I’ve always wanted to be important. So whether I live or die, make me important, would ya?
If I die in a school shooting let the world know I’m not surprised
If I die in a school shooting, I feel that I will be lost in the names, nothing will change, and in fact these instances will increase. Why is school shootings becoming a trend??? Why would people, no how do people wake up one morning and think "I'm gunna to kill a few people"? It terrifies me so much and I don't want to go to school because of it.
It is the incompetent of such politicians that force these kids to be adults. They showed more senses and dignity than those politicians. I pray for your safety and hope you graduate and take over the politics for a better future of your country.
We watched her speech at school coz we are doing Public Speaking. We were so confused when she paused for 5 minutes in the middle.
#ifiDieInASchoolShooting I will be happy cuz I sure as hell don't wanna be here but I'll feel bad for others that die
#IfIDieInASchoolShooting, put a gun in my cold, dead hand, and help me pull the trigger on a politician who consistently fought against sensible gun law reform. Dead men can't be convicted of a crime.
Locally, where I live now… They proposed law to sell liquor by the drink. High school kids were crying in anticipation of all of the classmates they would lose do to drunk drivers. Well the law passed, and the statistics are exactly the same. So they were crying about something that they did not need to cry about it. Save your tears for when it's legitimate. Anticipating an imagined tragedy is not tragedy.
I was literally born into a war and I had a happier and more care free childhood than these kids. It's tragic that gun politics sound like dark humour for it's bizarity and nonsense. The tragic part is that it's real. Come on, American politicians! Wake up from the American dream and see what's happening in the real world. "You better wake up and smell the real flavour".
If I die in a school shooting. I'll never be able to see justice for the politicians that killed me.
If I die in a school shooting, I'll never get to live my life to the fullest, reform the United States government, be a woman polititian who openly supports gun control, gay rights, women's equality, and make all people who have commited rape or abuse pay for their actions. I will never be able to see my loved ones again, I will never be able to make a difference. I will be a name in the ever-growing sea of illogical deaths.
How many kids have to die before Congress listens? I fear a prominent public figure will have to lose a child this way before anything happens. And I don't wish that on anybody.
All very profound -- and very sad that they should even have to think about it
We need sensible gun control laws (not allowing minors to buy guns, closing the gun show loop hole among other points), but we can't get them b/c we have a Congress dominated by the NRA on the question of gun control. But a large part of why it's dominated by the NRA is b/c kids like this, once they turn 18, almost never actually vote in a midterm election. I seriously doubt that's going to really change, but kids, prove me wrong! Don't just tweet, vote! Organize! Canvass! Pressure Ds and Rs to stop kowtowing to the NRA.
Keep this up students. Change must happen. These students have the right to live into adulthood, and their politicians are denying them that right.
If I died in a school shooting, I'd miss my family, my friends, performing for others, my girlfriend <3, fighting for acceptance as a genderqueer, fighting for equal rights. But I would miss keeping my friends and helping them through the struggle of depression the most. I would miss everyone I love, I would miss the little joys in life, and I'd miss all the opportunities I never got to take.
If I die in a school shooting, Nobody will be left to take care of my mom. She isn’t able to take care of herself. My biggest fear. What would happen to her if I was gone?
If I die in a school shooting, I'll always regret that I didn't stand up for someone who was being bullied, that I didn't reach out to a bully or show more love to people who are in pain. I'll always regret that I chose to hide in fear from people who scare me rather than show a little tenderness and love to both the bullied and the bullies.
If I die in a school shooting I will never see my 8 year old brother grow into a wonderful human being
Every murder is tragic. Sadly, I have read more thoughts of how to fix the problem based on ignorance of history and facts which is driving fear based opinions instead of real solutions.
The statistical likelihood of any given public school student being killed by a gun, in school, on any given day since 1999 was roughly 1 in 614,000,000 while car accidents kill an average of 8 teens per day in the US. The good news is that teen deaths (from any cause) have shrunk by 22% since just 2005. Unfortunately, childhood obesity has reached pandemic proportions, the numbers of children who are overweight has increased from just 5% in 1990 to 18.5% in 2016. I am not diminishing the horror of school shootings, nor do I think that even one death from gun violence is acceptable, but it is important to not lose sight of reality. The real enemy to school kids is not a fellow student with a gun.
As a librarian at a local college, knowing that a shooting could happen is always going through my head. If I die in a school shooting, I will never get married and have kids. My book won't be finished and I won't be able to live a wonderful life. If I die in a school shooting, it will be because I put the students' lives before myself.
I have only one question. Why? Why must children have to go to school fearing for their lives? Why must politicians make it about money? Why must we hurt others? Why?
A brief history lesson that I hope will help. There was a plague hiv/aids. Because the people that were affected first were mostly an unpopular minority the politicians did not put money into finding a cure.
People always thinking that taking alway the toll will stop a creator. That is the same for guns. While the guns laws in America are way too loose, the more importante question is: Why kids are killing kids? Until that is adressed, There will be deaths. With guns, cars, knives, rocks and fists.
If I died in a school shooting, I would never write the famous book I had dreamed of. I would never write a song that inspired young artists like me. I would leave my brother without a role model. My cat and my dog would wonder when I would come home from school. I’ve always wanted to be important. So whether I live or die, make me important, would ya?
If I die in a school shooting let the world know I’m not surprised
If I die in a school shooting, I feel that I will be lost in the names, nothing will change, and in fact these instances will increase. Why is school shootings becoming a trend??? Why would people, no how do people wake up one morning and think "I'm gunna to kill a few people"? It terrifies me so much and I don't want to go to school because of it.
It is the incompetent of such politicians that force these kids to be adults. They showed more senses and dignity than those politicians. I pray for your safety and hope you graduate and take over the politics for a better future of your country.
We watched her speech at school coz we are doing Public Speaking. We were so confused when she paused for 5 minutes in the middle.
#ifiDieInASchoolShooting I will be happy cuz I sure as hell don't wanna be here but I'll feel bad for others that die
#IfIDieInASchoolShooting, put a gun in my cold, dead hand, and help me pull the trigger on a politician who consistently fought against sensible gun law reform. Dead men can't be convicted of a crime.
Locally, where I live now… They proposed law to sell liquor by the drink. High school kids were crying in anticipation of all of the classmates they would lose do to drunk drivers. Well the law passed, and the statistics are exactly the same. So they were crying about something that they did not need to cry about it. Save your tears for when it's legitimate. Anticipating an imagined tragedy is not tragedy.