High school shootings -Could this happen at your school?

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It was a devastation and something that no one will ever forget, another tragedy in America had caught the attention of the World in Columbine High School at Littleton, Colorado. You read the articles, saw the news, and saw the sadness in the tears of the families and friends of the victims. Two enraged teens opened fire and killed 12 of their fellow students and a teacher. Many others were injured. They later turned the guns on themselves, ending the Colorado bloodbath.

Almost one week later, a similar story would happen in Taber, Alta., this time two people were killed when one teen opened fire on students in his high school. Then, exactly one month after the Colorado blood bath, another school shooting would occur in the suburban community of Conyers, Georgia. A boy upset over a broken romance, shot and wounded six students, then fell to his knees, stuck a gun in his mouth and surrendered in tears. Since then, many students in urban areas around North America have asked themselves the same question: Could this tragedy ever happen at my high school?

Well let's hope not. Let's pray that this will never happen again. Only the Creator can tell what lies ahead for our youth. We are still unsure of the possibilities, we are also incapable of preventing another school shooting, we are also doubtful if something like this could ever occur in a small place like Saskatoon or any other community. Then again when you compare the size of Saskatoon or Regina to Littleton, Colorado, it makes you think: What news will you see appear on the CTV-News Hour at Noon?

As a youth columnist for Sage, I have always wanted other people to see how urban youth are affected by hard issues, such as the high school shootings. A teen living and going to school on a reservation may doubt that something like this could ever happen in his or her high school. The chances are very slim on a reserve, but in a city, the chances are much higher and that's the most frightening of all. In the city it is different. A much larger population, a variety of different groups ranging from skateboarders to Goths, and better access to lethal weapons like the ones that were used in the Colorado blood bath can make the city a dangerous place.

For those of us who are still in high school, we are separate in crowds and different groups and live day-to-day as normal teenagers. The jocks hang with the jocks, the Natives hang with the Natives, and the outcasts hang out by themselves. Even after these three high school blood baths, students still say "this will never happen here!" That's exactly what many students said in Taber and Conyers when they heard about the Colorado blood bath.

These three school shootings have killed many innocent students and brought many people into tears. "Why? Why? Why?" screamed a crying parent after the Colorado bloodbath. No body on TV or in the newspapers would answer her question. The answer is simple and would best describe what was going through the minds of Harris and Klebold, the two murderers responsible for the slaughter in Colorado.

They were fighting against the sub-culture of racism that faced them and other people around the world everyday. They were a group divided among the rest, The Trenchcoat Mafia was their clique and their gothic culture faced segregation and degradation on a daily basis. They were racist to not only black people, but others who were not like them, including the jocks who made them feel insecure. Who was at fault?

Was it their parents? Was it the jocks? Or was it their separate world that they built for themselves to hide from the rest of society? So many questions and not enough answers.

For those who died in these three school shootings let us pray for their families and friends, let us remember those who were victims. Let us make friends with one another regardless of age, gender, race, or different groups. Let's learn to accept each other as normal human beings so we can move on. Right now we are stnding still, acting as if nothing happened when in fact it could happen to you. And let's work on being one nation instead of four, let's come together and remember that we are all the same.