Annie Jiang, Period 7, 3/3/22

 Annie Jiang

Period 7

3/3/2022

Modern Mythology 2022

Socio-political Consciousness

What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?

My heart breaks for those who witnessed the school shooting that happened in Uvalde, Texas on May 24, 2022. 19 elementary age students and 2 teachers unfortunately died that day, and I can’t even imagine the distress that their friends and families have been going through.

It angers me that people like the involved shooter are able to roam freely with guns in this country. Not even children dying at the hands of these people is even enough for a reform in gun control. Instead of relying on the law to keep us safe, we have to teach young, naive children lockdown drills in case of a situation like this and explain to them why we have these procedures in place. It also becomes the teacher’s job to protect the children in times like these. I saw a video where a teacher tried propping up a chair against a door handle to jam it and gleefully shouted “success!” when it worked.  In the case of Uvalde, a mom ran into the school to save her sons despite being stopped by the police there. Meanwhile, the police there had waited before going inside for unknown reasons, putting children’s lives at risk for much longer than needed. Why are we letting this happen instead of trying to solve the problem at its roots? 

There’s also been several other shootings happening throughout the country lately–so many that it’s been hard to keep up. There’s been shootings in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Clarendon County, South Carolina; Phoenix, Arizona; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and so many more. It’s such a shame that this is the reality in this country, and I hope there can be changes to gun control in the near future.

How do you reflect critically on your own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences, and how these can influence your perception of self and others?

I’ve felt so fortunate that I live and go to school in an area where things like this don’t happen as much, but due to these recent events, I still feel like I have to look over my shoulder or think twice before taking the subway or even staying out past 5. Sometimes the worry of something happening to me or my close ones lingers in my mind, because those who experienced a shooting didn’t know they were going to be part of something so traumatic, or even breathe their last breath, that day. From now on, I will try to become more active in fighting for a safer country to live in, whether that means signing petitions or going to protests.