A year later: the Parkland shooting
Kaitlyn Lundy, Staff Writer
Photo courtesy of Unsplash.com.
The one year anniversary of the Parkland Shooting occurred on Feb. 14 of this year.
The New York Times interviewed students, faculty members, and officers who experienced the shooting showing their stories a year later. These interviews show the humanity of these people and how this shooting changed their lives forever.
Several Parkland survivors had a busy year following this traumatic event. Between touring all over the country encouraging voter registration, attending hearings, and continuing to pursue their educations, there was little time to process and grieve their losses.
After this particular school shooting, the desire for increased school safety became evident across the country and these students led that charge. This showed a new side to the issue, where students intervened in hopes of bringing about change. The world is in a different age now where social media drastically broadcasts the voices of youth activists.
March for Our Lives was founded shortly after the shooting focusing on specific issues with gun control such as background checks and overall gun access. This organization was founded by 24 students seeking change within the nation.
The amount of school shootings within the U.S. is so much greater than our global counterparts and the people being affected are taking notice, demanding stricter gun restrictions and advanced safety regulations.
Since 2009, there have been 288 school shootings within the United States according to CNN.
There is action being taken in response to this shooting because of the “never again” attitude surrounding this shooting. But government involvement is still not where it should be according to Parkland survivors and activists with their same mindsets.
76 gun control laws have been passed in 2018 but the fight between the NRA and politicians is far from over.
Change proves to not happen overnight and even a year later there is still work to be done in the White House as far as activists are concerned.
After any incident, there is the inevitability of increased awareness, but Parkland has created a wave of motion unseen before.
In response to this shooting and others similar to it, education centers have reworked their budgets to fund better security.
The state of Florida specifically has made major changes in regard to school safety due to the fact that Parkland occurred within their own state, but the reality is this can happen anywhere.
Universities across the country followed suit in this demand for increased security measures. NGU has many resources available to students regarding safety on campus.
On the website, there is a video available displaying the protocol if an active shooter entered campus. There is also information to students, faculty, and the general public giving specific instructions when faced with various dangerous situations as well as direction to which buildings on campus are meant to serve as safety shelters.
Campus Security at NGU has the best interest of the student body as their top priority and the policies and protocols are subject to change along with the circumstances occurring across the country.
