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Saturday, April 20, 2024

25 years later....Columbine

 






   In a small town in Colorado, thirteen lives were gone 25 years ago today. April 20th, 1999. A day which changed many lives.

   First off, not many people around the age of fourteen or high school age knew that having a school shooting will happen at their school preemies. Who were the slain?? Why did this happen? Will gun violence ever end?









   Two boys around the same age as the students in Columbine were the two that decided it was best to change the world for the worst.

   Their names were Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. Who were they? Why did they do this? All I can remember was that day. I didn't know what happened. I was only in 8th grade with this was happening and feared going to high school because of this.










  It was on everywhere in every school. Seeing a dead body of a student laying on the ground near the school, seeing a teacher sacrificing his life to save everyone else. Why did those boys do this? I guess because they were being picked on, were depressed or something was going on with their lives that they thought destroying not only other lives, but changing everyone was the only way to go.









   Because of what they did....13 lives gone in a flash. Every student and one teacher, either died for answering a question the killer asked, or sacrificing their life to protect someone they love. Even a few of the parents that want answers of why wrote memoirs of their slain child. Some have been published, while others, who want answers, have wanted to know...when will gun violence end? 










   It's not just Columbine that wants answers, almost every school that suffered a tragedy from one gunman wants to kill people for no apparent reason. A few years later, a college in Virginia had a tragedy that destroyed everyone's lives. Happening in 2007, when my brother was in college not far from the one that had the tragedy, that had over 33 fatalities.










   Columbine isn't the only school that's had a tragedy. Uvalde, Texas; Newton, Connecticut; Nickle Mines, Pennsylvania. Many schools suffering tragedies. So....why does the Columbine school shooting stick out the more for us? Is it because it's the one that started everything? No....there have been many school shootings that have happened before then. But with this being the 25th Anniversary of the tragedy that shook everyone, it shows that.... anyone can terrify us by killing.











   25 years has gone by. Not much has changed, but we want gun safety to happen soon. Guns kill... and the proof is in most of the school shootings that are still happening. Many people are pissed, so am I as well. We need our children (well not mine but you get the idea) to stay safe. Even the teachers that can be our parents. My mom, thankfully now retired, was teaching first grade when it happened. What do you tell a first grader that there was shooting in another state? You can't.









  How are the survivors of that terrible shooting doing now? All of them have grown up and had their own lives, but they can never forget what happened. Some of them were about to graduate that year.... some did while others were celebrated for their memories. The two school shooters, who killed themselves after the violence stopped.... their memories were not forgotten as well. Having their lives changed, the survivors of that tragedy try to live each day like it would be their last. 









  25 years come and gone. I still have the image of that tragedy that I only saw.... after I was done school. The horror in their eyes as I had no idea what was going on and found out more as my mom watched on. Canceling most of the tv programs to focus on what would be burned in my memory forever. Never forget the fallen thirteen (fifteen if you count the two gunmen, which I don't) Now, many schools are focusing on mental health to find out if everyone is ok. Back then....we weren't, and I don't think we ever will be. Never forget Columbine in Littleton, Colorado.

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