Writing with Mentor Texts #2: Where they Happen to Be

Mentor Text: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/mass-shootings-in-america/?noredirect=on

Quote from mentor text used as inspiration: “Public mass shootings account for a tiny fraction of the country’s gun deaths, but they are uniquely terrifying because they occur without warning in the most mundane places. Most of the victims are chosen not for what they have done but simply for where they happen to be.”


“Where they Happen to Be” by Amber Counts

Statistically, the chance of a school shooting
occurring at any one given school is small.
Yet it constantly weighs on my mind.
Lest I forget, even for a second, that this
hypothetical horror could become a reality,
we have the annual compliance training
to remind me.

Avoid. Deny. Defend.
Lockdown: Locks! Lights! Out of Sight!

I just read that “victims are chosen not what they have done
but for simply where they happen to be.”
But what if they happen to be in school?

They happen to be in a place where they are supposed to feel safe.
They happen to be in a space designed for learning and discovery.
They happen to be in a place that offers support systems for people who feel depressed or angry.
They happen to be in a place full of America’s hope for the future.
They happen to be with a teacher who will give her life for theirs,
but hopes she never has to.

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