Since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, American students have had to live with the ever-present threat of gun violence. There have reportedly been 80 school shootings already this year, 29 at college and the other 51 on K-12 school grounds. Those who live through the unique horror of a school shooting contend with an especially devastating kind of trauma. Many of them are just kids, and as they age into adulthood, the scars of their past can feel especially sharp.
Eleven years ago today, sisters Paige and Meghan Tarpey watched a gunman terrorize their elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. Paige, who was 7, and Meghan, who was 8, survived the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which claimed the lives of 20 of their classmates and six school employees. For the first time since that day, the Tarpey sisters are ready to tell the world what happened.
Paige, now 18, and Meghan, now 19, are both smart, self-aware, and determined. What they experienced that day doesn't define them, but it does guide who they are becoming. They want to help other school shooting survivors heal and give back to their communities. They want to inspire hope. Speaking out about what happened is painful, but cathartic. The Tarpey girls believe changing the future starts by sharing their stories. |
No comments:
Post a Comment