School shootings are far too familiar for this generation and the young people. Regular lock downs and active shooter drills that are a part of student/teacher life in the current world.
“Gun control should be taken a hell of a lot more seriously. It should have happened after Columbine, it should have happened after Sandy Hook. I’ve never done anything about it myself, but obviously I feel a lot more strongly now. It gives you a whole new motivation, to fight for ourselves and the people who were killed.” -Lara E.
Mass shootings are a constant threat. Trauma is effecting our children’s brain patterns.
School shootings don’t just end lives, they dramatically change the lives surrounding them. We often focus on the victims of mass shootings, mourn their deaths. Remember, it’s the survivors who are left to pick up the pieces and try to move on from the violence they witnessed first hand. Survivors develop a form of PTSD.
Almost a third will develop post-traumatic stress disorder.
As mass public shootings, and in particular, school shootings, continue to happen, our young people and their families are increasingly dealing with their devastating psychological effects.
But how can we help these survivors?
Families and loved ones, NEED to be on the look out for PTSD symptoms and lending a nonjudgmental listening ear. While the average grief tends to lessen with time, PTSD symptoms normally increase as the survivor has time to reflect on the trauma.
“The shooter came for our classroom. He came after he shot those other two people in the hallway. The door was locked, thankfully, but he shot quite a few bullets into the glass and it hit a few people behind me,” student Samantha G. told the TODAY show.
Her best friend was shot and killed next to her.
To learn more about what you can do to help survivors of a traumatic life event, click here.
“I thought someone had dropped something in the kitchen at first. But then I heard more and I went under a high table. I heard more rounds, grabbed my friends and yelled “Get down. This is happening, this is happening right now.”” one survivor said.
It takes a long time for schools and it’s students. to return to normal. IF they ever do.
“I heard screaming. I heard about 5, 6 gunshots. We thought they were firecrackers because they sounded like them. And we heard the police yelling and there was banging on the doors. And I saw some bodies. It wasn’t good. One of the bodies I recognized, it was my friend’s teacher,” an unnamed student told CNN.
Together, we should all work to educate ourselves about trauma and its aftermath. Let’s make a commitment to being nonjudgmental and open-minded to helping others through traumatic events. School is hard enough. We’ve all been there. And now our children are in a surprise war zone.