On Feb. 14, Majory Stoneman Douglas was added to the list of seven school shootings that have taken place in 2018. With this recent shooting taking place at a high school that is very similar to our own, it is time to consider how a tragedy in Parkland affects us.

With situations like these, it is easy to point fingers. People, of course, point fingers at the shooter, while others point their finger at the government for not taking action to limit these kinds of tragedies. Some may even point their fingers at the students and school for not taking threats seriously or for not reporting said threats. In times like these, who do we blame for the innocent lives lost?

The FBI did not correctly investigate the threats made, hypothetical threats were not taken seriously and the shooter legally obtained a semi-automatic weapon under the current gun laws. However, while fixing the mistakes are important, we should also focus on helping the victims and working together to prevent school shootings in the future.

The phrase “if you see something, say something” has gotten a lot of publicity, and it holds a lot of truth. The students at Stoneman Douglas did say something; but their statements did not receive appropriate action. However, this should not stop people from being diligent. If you are scrolling through social media or YouTube and see a suspicious comment or post, you should probably report it. You could even report it anonymously, if you are hesitant.

We need to focus on what we can do instead of what could have been done. If you do not like the current gun laws, do something about it. E-mail your representative, sign a petition, do something instead of sitting down and complaining. If you agree with the gun laws and feel that other measures need to be put in place, the same applies to you. Whatever your viewpoint is on preventing future school shootings, nothing is going to get done unless you get up and take action to influence our leaders to fix it. The students from Stoneman Douglas are taking action, why can’t you?

We urge you, for the safety of this school and everyone in it, if you hear or see something suspicious, including on social media, please report it. It is much better for your report to be a false alarm, than for you to ignore the suspicious activity and have it turn into something horrific.

The sad reality is that no matter how many safety precautions are taken, our safety is not guaranteed. We can however, be mindful of our surroundings and follow through with these safety precautions to do everything we can to stop this from happening again.