School shootings seem to always be met by silence. During lockdowns or active shooter situations, children muffle their voices, sit still and play dead. And afterward, we are told to send our thoughts and prayers, an essentially private, soundless act even when they’re plastered across social media.
But the Covenant School shooting in Nashville on March 27 revealed something important about breaking the silence and making noise.
First of all, having “no words” is a common response to shootings, despite the Nashville shooting being the 13th of 2023 and the 51st since 2022. We’ve had plenty of time to develop a vocabulary surrounding these events. Tragedy doesn’t have to mean speechlessness. We have words and can make more.
