BY ROSE DOUCETTE
VIRGINIA BEACH — I am a 15-year-old high school student. My family moved to Virginia Beach when I was in third grade. I know I am lucky to learn in one of the best school systems in Virginia.
Part of my education in our school system in Virginia Beach has been how not to get massacred in a classroom.
This isn’t just a local phenomenon. Anyone who has worked or studied in an American public school over the last two decades probably can recall an active shooter or “lockdown” drill. Or remember a gun or bomb threat in their school or, at least, in their district.
Many of us remember a real lockdown in our building, even if no threatening event occurred. I remember at least two lockdowns and enough vaguely described threats to not always take them seriously when told one has taken place.
A lockdown in most of the schools I’ve attended here usually means doors are locked, windows closed and shades pulled. Filing cabinets are moved in front of the entrances to the room.
Everyone goes to huddle in a corner at the most awkward possible angle from the door so our pretend killer does not have easy targets.
Kellam High School, my school, is a beautiful, modern building where some classroom walls are made of glass. A lockdown means you follow the training, maybe text your mom to say you love her, try to be a hard target to hit.
I think a lot of people, even in a city that experienced a mass shooting only three years ago at our municipal center, fail to realize the utter absurdity of this situation.
Young children learn to crawl to the corner of the room behind a teacher and be quiet. There is a market for child-sized bulletproof backpacks. Shoes that light up could be a beacon for a kid’s demise.
Meanwhile, almost anyone can go out at any time and buy an assault-style weapon with no questions asked. Knowing that sort of thing can break an elementary school-aged kid. It can break you at 15. To some people, my life is worth less than an AR-15.
I have tried to reach out to elected leaders in the past about my concerns about our ineffective, gridlocked approach to the threat of gun violence in schools and the factors that cause it. In response? Form letters.
On Saturday, June 11, I attended the Virginia Beach March for Our Lives, a local rally connected to the national student-founded, survivor-led movement for effective policy to fight gun violence. Events around the country came not long after the recent mass shootings in New York and Texas.
I felt like I had no other options. I went because knowing I could die tomorrow and be another blip on the radar is a horrible, helpless feeling. I went and listened to others. I did not plan to speak, but I did.
I spoke about that hurt I am trying to express here, and I went home, did my chores and attended a friend’s birthday party.
I don’t remember exactly what I said during the rally, but I remember the feeling that drove me to say it.
I’m sick of being afraid. I’m sick of training and hiding and endless warnings about how to respond if a person with a gun walks into my school or my job or the concert I’ve attended. I’m sick of officers in tactical gear where I learn and work.
I don’t know whether anything said during the rally will lead to change.
I don’t know whether writing this to you will mean anything.
But it feels like we have reached a point where protest stands as the only option left.
The author is a rising junior at Kellam High School and lives in Back Bay.
© 2022 Pungo Publishing Co., LLC
Such a moving and powerful, yet heartbreaking letter written by a child who should not have to worry about anything when he goes to school every day except whether he’s going to do well on his English test or what he’s going to have for lunch. Our elected officials should be ashamed of themselves that our children are afraid that they could be shot at school one day. All because in my opinion, pro gun extremists think by putting SOME limits on gun purchases or banning assault rifle purchases by the average person is SO horrible. To me, this is saying exactly what this child feels – guns are worth more than his life. I hope he knows not everyone feels that way, as this Mom of 3 definitely does not. I will always fight for saving people over guns.
So sorry that our government is made of elected officials who vote for the interest of the NRA and gun manufacturing lobbyists instead of for the lives of our children and grandchildren and don’t have the courage to stand up to them and stop the sale of assault of assault weapons to teenagers. There is no reason that anyone needs an assault weapon to hunt or defend themselves. At the time of the formation of the constitution there were no assault weapons. The constitution only allows the right to a militia so people in the states could defend themselves against a corrupt federal government. There is no constitutional right to assault weapons which did not exist at the time. Congress and the Supreme Court need to be replaced. I hope your generation makes better choices voting to limit political donations and pick leaders than our generation has done. Please vote and encourage your classmates to speak out like you are doing.
This just saddens me.
I have voted for more gun control, stricter regulations, and agree with the above.
Other than our military, there is absolutely no reason for anyone to own automatic assault weapons.
I have a grandchild that will be starting school in VB this Fall. And as this young person stated, my grandchild will get a top notch education in VB, but will also have to be taught things that just hurty heart.
And yes I know those things can save the lives of our young people. But why should any child have to worry about that?
Their lives are worth more!
We have armed guards protecting banks and even grocery stores ( Harris Teeter for one example) but not our most precious, our children. Murderous cowards, like the one who killed 12 people at our municipal center 3 years ago, only attack gun free zones like schools. Don’t you agree that every school should be more secure than a bank?
Allow those who have been trained and have a concealed carry permit who are willing to protect their co-workers or students to do so without fear of losing their jobs. There were municipal employees who perceived the threat and wanted to carry their firearm to work but didn’t because they would be fired… now their families mourn.
As both moral and mental health decline in our schools consider bringing back both prayer and school mental health workers.
I agree with you 100%. I think we all need to get past the gun laws and work on why it is that our children are being sent to less than top-of-the-line secure school buildings. Conceal carry is a good thing for those who work in these institutions. Doors that are locked from the outside, require a person to identify themselves before being buzzed into another security feature that is still not inside the school. Cameras outside, automatically saving to a cloud. It’s sad, you can look up what the government spends on our schools, and it is ridiculous. They send billions to other countries, and spend billions on lawsuits, and yet, our children are at the bottom of the barrel, our schools basically get the change left over from those dollars wasted on their fruitless efforts.
Did you read the article? It seems evident after having done so that arming the teachers is no better a solution than any other; adding more guns to our schools only exacerbates the extraordinary danger of learning that – although ridiculous – seems already prevalent. There should be no necessity for violent force in our school system, and the very idea that it is is sickening.