SurvivorA survivor of a school shooting is defined as anyone as anyone that did not die as a result of it, because the scope of school shootings is immeasurable. A survivor could be anyone from someone who was shot and didn't die to someone in the community who was affected by the shooting [2]. Since the definition is broad, there is usually a large population that constitutes the survivors from each shooting.
effects of the shooting on survivorsFor many survivors, the effects of the shooting do not end when the shooter is apprehended. Those who are injured in the shooting sometimes have to go through long and painful medical processes to regain their former health, if possible. In addition, survivors are often hounded by the media following the shooting to get their point of view on the events that occurred. Mass shootings are somewhat unique in this way, because the shootings are usually well covered by the media.
In cases studied by the National Center for PTSD, it was found that survivors have a harder time adjusting to life after a shooting the more they are exposed to the shooting itself. If a survivor experienced a loss of friends and/or intimacy, they had a greater chance of exhibiting signs of psychological stress down the road. Also, if the survivor had less social support before the shooting, they were more likely to lose resources like companionship and hope [3]. |
March for our lives"March For Our Lives" was the name of a rally held all over the country on March 24th, 2018. This rally was created in response to the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February of the same year. The goals of the rally and the ongoing efforts are to work towards requiring comprehensive background checks, having a database through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), providing funding for the Center for Disease Control to research gun violence in America, and banning high-capacity magazines as well as assault weapons [1]. You can donate to the cause here. On the previous page, School Shootings in the U.S., the map of recording school shootings ends on the day of "March For Our Lives," because the hope is that there will be no more pinpoints after that date.
Support groupsMany support groups exist for survivors of mass shootings, like the Rebels Project, Everytown Survivor Network, and Survivors Empowered, among others. These groups are able to connect people who are going through similar experiences and allow them to express themselves without fear of judgement. For example, the founder of the Rebels Project was able to connect three women who were injured in a shooting while they were pregnant. In the groups, survivors are able to share their newfound fears of small conference rooms and Fourth of July fireworks, and see their peers share some of the same stories [2].
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In review |
The effects that school shootings have on the survivors and the community at large are immeasurable. For some, they end up having PTSD and spend their lives trying to recover while also advocating for survivors from other shootings around the country. With the shooting in Parkland, the country saw high school students stage school walkouts and have town halls with senators, all while going back into the school that some of them were shot and killed in weeks before. If stricter gun laws were enacted and enforced in the U.S., we would be able to stop these shootings before they happen and prevent these types of problems in the future.
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Picture Citations
- Survivors: March For Our Lives student protest for gun control by Fibonacci Blue used under CC BY
- Effects of the shooting on survivors: Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel visits Parkland shooting survivor Anthony Borges in the hospital on Feb. 18, 2018 by Broward County Sheriff's Office is in the public domain
- March For Our Lives: Banners and signs at March for Our Lives by Jarek Tuszyński used under CC BY
- Support groups: Ladies Empowerment Social and Book Club by Senior Airman Marcy Glass is in the public domain
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PurposeSchool shootings are an ongoing problem in America as more happen every year that surpass those of the past in death tolls and advancing weaponry. Our multimedia project seeks to discuss the philosophical contrast between freedom to bear arms and safety, as they relate to Isaiah Berlin’s concepts of positive and negative liberty. We especially concentrated on school shootings, namely the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting (2018) which is one of the largest school shootings to date. Our goal is to explore these concepts and argue that there need to be stricter gun laws so that U.S. citizens can have both the freedom to bear arms and the freedom from gun violence.
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