"In the Event of Emergency"
“Mom, there’s a shooter on campus.”
“What? Are you serious right now?
“I’m not joking they just shot through the walls someone in my class is injured.”
“Are the police there? Is anyone else hurt? Keep texting me.”
“Just one person in my classroom.”
“How many shots did you hear?”
“A lot.”
“Keep texting me, sweetie. Is the person OK?”
“Yeah. If I don’t make it, I love you and I appreciated everything you’ve done for me.”
“Don’t say that, you’re gonna be fine. Please answer.”
“I think they’re at the door.”
“What? Honey, keep texting me. Please answer. Please answer! Honey…?
In the event of an emergency:
Lock the doors.
Turn out the lights.
In the event of an emergency:
Close the blinds.
Barricade the door with whatever you can.
In the event of an emergency:
Hide in the corner.
Turn your phones off.
In the event of an emergency:
Wait for law enforcement.
And, if all else fails, pray.
Our kids have this drilled into their heads, when they should be drilling multiplication tables.
When did playing pretend become playing dead to stay alive?
When did laying on the ground become the new playing on the ground, grounds that you claimed to be safe?
Students are texting their parents goodbye when they should be texting them when to pick them up at the end of the day.
You have your children bring protective doorstops to school, when they should be bringing they’re favorite toy for show-and-tell.
And tell us, what have you got to show for it?
Children, raised like cattle just to be razed in battle,
And the ones who survive still hear the echoes of the bullets that blew through their best friends.
PTSD is not just for soldiers.
But are we not soldiers?
Are the gunshots on the battlefield not the same as the gunshots in the hall?
Are campuses not the new campgrounds for the fallen warriors you call your children?
Are we not being put on the front lines, fighting a fight to protect your freedom?
Or are we just cannon fodder?
Numbers?
Strategically placed troops, trooping through our classes, our drills, until we finally hear that call that kills?
Code red,
Seventeen dead,
Adults are acting like children and it is time we put them to bed,
Change is coming faster than the bullets that go through our heads,
Put your heads together, make our collection of memories-not-yet-made more important than your collection of weapons.
We are a collection, an unstoppable force that will not be forced into your collectible casualties.
In the event of an emergency:
Lock the doors.
Turn out the lights.
Lock your doors, lawmakers, we are coming for you.
We will not turn out the lights in our eyes.
In the event of an emergency:
Close the blinds.
Barricade the door with whatever you can.
We will not be closed off by the blind,
We have been a barricade for too long.
In the event of an emergency:
Hide in the corner.
Turn your phones off.
You are cornered.
Our phones will be on, capturing every last unlifted finger when another’s finger pulls the trigger.
In the event of an emergency:
Wait for law enforcement.
And, if all else fails, pray.
If the law is not enforced, how much longer will we wait?
Don’t worry, we’ll keep your guns in our thoughts and prayers.
In the event of an emergency?
It is time to prevent the emergency.
- Bennett Atkins '18, Liz Jones '18, Rachael Murdock '18