My 16 year old daughters letter to the Editor got published in our major paper today! No more fear!

[ChubbyStar]

No more fear

EDITOR: I am a student at Santa Rosa High School, and after the recent shootings I am not only infuriated but also terrified. Before the shooting, my biggest fears in school were failing a math test or studying for the SAT. From now on, I will be hesitant to leave the classroom in case I need to take cover from a bullet.

When I hear a loud bang, I assume it’s a gunshot rather than a student dumping out a recycling bin. I hate living in fear for my life when I step onto campus. I am done worrying if today will be the last day I see my best friend before she is shot. I am done worrying about the 2,000-plus lives of students and faculty on a daily basis and whether they will be here tomorrow.


No child should have to live with these fears. No teacher should have to worry about whether he or she will need to shield students from bullets. And no parent should have to worry whether their child will be home for dinner that night.

This is an unacceptable way to live, and we want change. We want it now.

[Lindsay]

1. Kudos to her,

and to you.

[Bluepinky]

2. Good letter!

[MLAA]

3. Outstanding. You must (with all good reason) be so proud of her.

[Motownman78]

4. That is a big problem in our country

Too many people living in fear, and the realization that you and your daughter are 4,500 times more likely to be killed in an auto accident on the way to school then in a school shooting, that fear is really unfounded. Over 40,000 killed in auto accidents in 2017. 9 school shooting deaths in 2017.

Sorry, this might not be popular, but I am sick and tired of living in a country infested with Fear. Fear got us Donald Trump after all.

[packman]

8. Difference between auto drivers and gun owners

Need a license to drive - none needed for gun ownership
Must pass a test to drive - None needed for shooting a gun
Must be at least a certain age to drive - No age limit to own a gun
Must abide about rules/regulations of the road - Do as you will with gun
Must be insured for possible harm to another - No insurance needed
Car must have min. safety equipment for protection of self and others - guns none

The NRA infested this country with fear. Everyone and anyone owning a gun makes a society unsafe.

[barbtries]

30. i would add

most of us need to drive to get around and carry out the tasks of our daily lives, so the risk while real is something we can deal with. that must inform why we don't all quake in our boots every time we have to cross a street or get into a motor vehicle. we don't need guns to live unless we're hunters living off the land. this dynamic of more and more guns, automatic killing machines with no other function, can and must change.

common sense. no other developed country is so victimized by the gun and it's just crazy and unnecessary.

[packman]

33. Amen to that

[emmadoggy]

35. Yes.

The PURPOSE of a vehicle is to transport people. It provides a service and convenience in our lives. Most of us need one to function in today's society. While the use of cars does result in human deaths, most do not die from INTENTIONAL harm.

The only PURPOSE of a gun is to kill. It is not needed for most of us to function in life and does not provide any valuable service or convenience. Most gun deaths are the result of INTENTIONAL harm.

[DBoon]

52. Cars are designed for transportation

Guns are designed to kill

You need to get to work and other places, a car is usually the only option

How many times do you need to kill someone? Why should owning a machine to efficiently kill be part of someone's life?

[TNNurse]

12. Wow, I do not agree with your logic.

Accidents by definition are not intentional. Some are preventable, but not all. School shootings are intentional. These two events are NOT comparable.

I graduated from high school in 1967, in the previous 12 years I did know there was a possibility of a car wreck, not once was I concerned about a school shooting. Things have changed.

[olegramps]

17. For me its not the fear, but the thought of the little tykes who were massacred, now the teens.

Little innocent children murdered in cold blood turns my stomach. If Sandy Hook didn't convinced people that these weapons must be restricted I don't know what would ever convinced them. I realize that the vast majority of people who have these assault weapons will not use them to kill kids or anyone for that matter. They appear to so enamored with their so-called rights that they are unable to comprehend that to stop them from falling into the hands of a psychopath that they should sacrifice their right for the good of all. It is so insane that the NRA is opposing the banning of "bunt stops" that turn a semiautomatic weapon into a machine gun. It is not hard to imagine what the police could be forced to confront, let alone innocent citizens. This is utter madness without restraint. Their answer is arm up! What's next; people with rocket launchers, flamethrowers, a tank equipped with 50 caliber machine guns? Just what the little misses needs to go shopping at the local supermarket. Sling on your AK47, or what ever, as you head out door on your way to work. Insanity!

[barbtries]

31. exactly, it's not the fear

it's the tragic, senseless, ceaseless loss of life and limb.

[MyOwnPeace]

23. No, there are NO accidents with guns!

It is either negligence - or intentional!

http://www.stonekettle.com/2018/03/bang-bang-crazy-part-12-excuses-excuses.html

[3catwoman3]

49. Ex-freakin'-zactly!

So-called gun "accidents" are entirely preventable if people would only use their brains.

[efhmc]

25. Your analagy stinks.

Very few of us need a gun to transport us anywhere.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

29. apples to machetes

How many students died, in class, from maniacs driving a car through the school?

[jalan48]

5. Congrats to you and your daughter. Sounds like she's received some good parenting as well.

[world wide wally]

6. Words of wisdom

This is an unacceptable way to live

[Wounded Bear]

7. K & R...for visibility...nt

[pandr32]

9. Excellent!

No more fear should become a slogan.

[rurallib]

10. Well stated

[Happyhippychick]

11. How proud you must be!!!

[Ligyron]

13. Why be terrified just in school?

If your worried about gun violence you are at risk absolutely everywhere, church, the mall, etc.

[TNNurse]

15. Unfortunately, you are correct.

Nowhere in this country is safe from gun violence...oh, except many government buildings and NRA meetings.

[mountain grammy]

14. And NPR felt the need to report

a March for our Guns in Montana. That was NPR, not Fox. The media will decide not to report corporate misdeeds, Congressional misdeeds, and so much more, but it's important we know that the gun nuts are marching in Montana, a low population state with far too many Nazis. WTF?

[ProfessorGAC]

16. Brava To Your Daughter!

[smirkymonkey]

18. Bravo!

Well done! You must be very proud of your daughter. She sounds like a very bright young lady.

[BobTheSubgenius]

19. That's a damned fine LTE for someone of any age.

[Hortensis]

20. Good letter and I'd be proud of her also.

I hope that fear is mostly hyperbole, though, understandable to make the point for the letter, but she shouldn't be living with it for real.

To put this in perspective for everyone, there are something like 4 million students in 100,000 PUBLIC schools in this nation and goodness knows how many classrooms. In addition are all the students at 30,000 private schools.

According to the WaPo, approximately 193 schools have had a shooting on campus since Columbine in 1990. Most students in most schools didn't hear about it until afterward and were not in danger.

School shootings are extremely rare, and they are actually a very small part of the epidemic of gun violence. Just so she knows.

[KT2000]

21. Good for her

to say this. Too many are not listening.

[Canoe52]

22. Yea for your daughter!

[MyOwnPeace]

24. Her report card:

Essay: A+

(your parents should take you out for dinner for such good work!)

[appalachiablue]

26. Wonderful letter- passionate, determined & to the point. And she's right!

[Leghorn21]

27. Your darlin young one has blown whats left of my old mind!! Kudos, bravo, and thanks for posting!!

RESPECT

[ChubbyStar]

37. She said to give you a BIG HUG!

[Leghorn21]

38. Oh, mmmmmmwah!!! So many thanks, Chubby!!

[raven mad]

28. Wow, what a wonderful young woman!

Watch out world, ChubbyStar's daughter is out to kick some butt in a thoughtful, intelligent way. You GO, girl!

[ChubbyStar]

34. Did you attend college? Did you take SAT exams? n/t

[oberliner]

39. Yes to both

I think it's high time we considered alternatives.

[ChubbyStar]

40. Then feel free to start your own thread on the horrors of the SAT

I'm sure it will be well received.

[oberliner]

41. It was just a side note, as I said

In response to this OP where the student talked about how the SAT was her biggest fear in school prior to the shooting. This is not the first time I had come across that sentiment. Just a little food for thought.

[ChubbyStar]

42. Junk food

Bye! Have a great night.

[RandomAccess]

36. Excellelnt. It's very powerful hearing about the fear these kids

are living with. I noticed today that even tho I was already quite sympathetic, it nevertheless had a fairly strong effect on me.

[Demsrule86]

43. Great letter.

[bdamomma]

44. Excellent

none of us should live in fear especially our most prized possessions our children.

[mcar]

45. K&R!

[MineralMan]

46. Brava!

[Upthevibe]

47. Excellent!

Well done.........

[stopwastingmymoney]

48. Hi neighbor, I'm in Santa Rosa too

And, I'm so damn proud of all of these kids...

[ChubbyStar]

51. Howdy neighbor

Nice to see another Sonoma County peep!

[riversedge]

50. Tell her congrats.

[NanceGreggs]

53. Excellent!!!

[ChubbyStar]

54. Thank you Nance

I shared with mini ChubbyStar some of your posts tonight, and she considers it an honor that you applauded her LTE.

[NanceGreggs]

55. The applause is well deserved!

It's a really good piece - she hit all the right notes!

[VOX]

56. Absolutely outstanding. Excellent writing.

Her words brought to mind a new concern: all this blunt existential apprehension and anxiety obviously can’t be healthy for kids during their more impressionable years.

If their young minds must remain so hypervigilant to just get through each school day, the stress could cut neural pathways that trigger anxiety, which in turn generates avoidance behaviors.

On top of all the lives taken and the physical injuries inflicted as direct result of these endless shootings, what the hell will happen when the psychological damage begins to more fully emerge, and kids develop debilitating behavioral disorders in epidemic numbers?

Your daughter is amazingly perceptive. I’m so sorry that she has to live in such fear on a daily basis. But never give up, ever.

[Mortos]

57. Bravo!

These kids give me hope.

[CrispyQ]

58. Outstanding letter!

to your daughter!

I love young activists!