These are little parts of the first journals my students completed. It is a tough read. This is one year, one freshman class and the stories from every student I have had before and since are similar.
My first time of fear that I had over a gun was when my dad pulled it out on my mother and she was crying on the floor with a gun in her face, so I got on top my mother crying telling my dad to go away and I thought he was going to shoot us both.
To be honest I have had a gun held up to my head before in the 6th grade. I was walking home and out of nowhere. They said don’t turn around then they told me don`t walk on this street boy. Then the gun was not on my head any more. Then 10 seconds later I turned around and I saw 3 people running away from me. Since that day I never walked on that street ever again I know who did it and why they did it but keep it low key Murphy. I am not scared to die because whenever you walk out your house. It’s a gamble you can get shot anytime any day. Death will get you at one point. I know the truth now I know I can get shot at any time. That why I am scared to die and no one knows the truth they don’t know that they can die second you leave your house. That how I feel.
Fears come to us when we have ugly experiences in our lives. My fear of violence and gangs started when my brother got killed because of being involved with gangs. My brother was just 14 years old when they kidnapped him and killed him. He was starting to do better at school and he had set his goals already but no, violence and gangs had to get on his way and ruin it all. I still
can’t get over it. Every time I think about him, it hurts me even more because he was my bro, my support, I knew I could count on him because he was older than me, until one morning I woke up and everything was gone. Everything.
The First Time I Ever Experience Guns Was When I Was 10. During The Summer me, my mom and my sister loved to go to the park. It was right around the corner. One Night it was getting late and we started to hear screaming and gunshots. It was a gang fight. We had Recently moved to Humboldt park area and that was the first memory about this place. That was the worst night of my life, a day I’ll never forget. I saw people dead on the sidewalk, bottles being thrown, People screaming for help. I was scared. As we were walking home we saw a teenager being dragged underneath a car from the opposite gang. I cried every night remembering. I don’t feel safe at home, it’s something I’ll never forget and I still remember it to this day. Still today I’ve never set a foot in the same park.
I remember when I was at the park on the monkey bars and there was also a family and a couple enjoying the beautiful day. A gang fight broke out and there was a shooting and this happened like a block away from the school park and I was hit in the thigh with a stray bullet. That’s when I said wow! That could have hit me anywhere or anyone I was lucky to get hit when I did. All three of my brothers and I have a bullet hole that we got from our old neighborhood community we all as a nation should have stronger charges to penalize theses aholes.
The first time I experience someone dying was when I was nine or ten years old and one of my friends got shot and killed and seeing him laying in the ground was pretty sad. My first time I had fear of a gun was when I was in my front porch and had two different gangs shooting from one side of the block to the other side.
I Lost My Boy Best Friend From Gun Violence &’ Gang Wars On August 2, 2012 .. I Went To His Funeral, I Seen Him In The Casket, He Didn’t Look The Same, He Was A Good Person A Great Basketball Player At The YMCA A Wonderful Friend, And Too See That He’s No Longer Involved In Those Who Love Him Life No More Its Sad. He Didn’t Deserve To Die But Yet I Guess That Was God Sign Telling Him It Was Time To Join Him In Heaven Above.
Back in 1993, I believe, In Birmingham Alabama a bomb went off in a church. A bomb. In a church. Who does that? Many little young girls were killed in that bombing. A church is supposed to be safe. Even during wars a church is supposed to be safe but there are people out there who just don’t care and will stop at nothing to make others feel pain. I hate violence. I absolutely hate it, but when I was younger I thought it was a thing that you had to know what to do in order to be safe. My dad started showing me how to fight at a young age and told me that it’s the only way to defend yourself and I believed him. One night my dad went out and got pretty drunk and when he got home he started arguing with my mom. I was about 9 years old and that night changed my view of violence forever. That night I witnessed my dad punch my mom in the eye and bruise her. I never would have thought that my dad could do such a thing, and from that night on, every time my dad wanted me to “fight” him, I said no and walked away. Don’t get me wrong, my dad doesn’t hit my mom every day that night was the only time it happened. That was the only time I witnessed violence face to face. I was told by others in my family about the violence that they went through when they were young. I believe that 2 or 3 of my dad’s brothers were killed. I don’t remember the reason why but the fact that they were killed is enough for even me to get hurt. One of my mom’s brothers was killed because a married woman was in love with him so the husband shot him. Violence is a part of everyday life and it always has been since humans came to live on this planet. For centuries humans have had to live in fear of weapons and violence, some have even been so afraid and tired, like me, that they have killed themselves. I don’t want to die at a young age; I want to live to see my grand children. Everyone does but with all this violence going around, people are lucky if they make it to be 10 years old without any sort of danger in their life. Everyone in the US and the rest of the world is tired of violence, I’m tired. Make it stop. Now.
I’ve grown up being around violence a lot so it’s nothing new to me at all. My mom will try not to have violence around me or my sister by not allowing us to play with toy guns because she didn’t want us growing up playing with guns is ok. But there just so much violence in our family that it was hard to stay away from all that. I’ve lost six cousins, three uncles, two aunts, and three friends all from a bullet taking their lives. It’s not that I don’t care about the family’s problem or insensitive about the situation, I really do feel bad because no one should see their six year old son/daughter get buried. It just happens a lot around here that it’s really anything new.
The first time I felt fear for guns was, well every day. Where not safe in this world we have to go through the thoughts of “am I going to die today“why because of all the gun violence that’s going on in the world?
I first was afraid of guns and violence when my brother first got shot. He was not doing anything but walking up the street going to my cousin’s house. They tried to rob him but he didn’t have anything on him but money for a bus card. Since he didn’t really have anything and he saw their faces so they shot him in the leg. I got even more scared of guns and violence when my uncle got shot and when my brother got shot again not even four months ago. I was very afraid and scared. He is my only brother and if I lost him I really wouldn’t know what to do. I lost my cousin due to gun violence he was fairly young. He and I were very close; he used to hold me when I was a baby. I honestly don’t think we can do much. We can’t stop them from doing what they want to do and we can’t just take out the people who we think might do something like this or even worse. This is a topic I really hate to talk about because I’ve had plenty of my friends and family get shot, so I have no more words.
The first time I felt fear was when I was when I was really young I was maybe 6 or 7 years old. I feared that I could not stop the violence in my home. When I got older I got that fear once again when I was about 9 or 10 years old at that age I was with the bad crowd because I didn’t have any other choice but to chill with them because they offered things I thought was cool even though it wasn’t but I didn’t have a father to tell me what was good or bad or what to do or not so I joined a gang that made me & a friend a leader of a crew. I feared that something was going to happen to me while I was in the streets I always had 2 or 3 guys with me to protect me if I didn’t have them with me I had to be looking behind my back to see if anybody attempted to get me or jump me. My childhood was messed up I had to carry around a pocket knife, or a gun, or a bat to feel protected from the bad people. At the age of 10 I walked the streets of Chicago with fear of dying & having an automatic weapon in my book back or a knife in my pocket when I got out of school.
I was six when I started realizing that I don’t live in a safe area. It used to be really bad around 2004-2006. I remember my dad had a gun put to his head from this gangbanger who has recently got out of jail not too long ago. Of course I’m scared of the violence in my neighborhood. I know it wasn’t right that the kids died like that the little kids could have been something in life.
Were not safe no here, now living in this is normal, were not safe in school and barely in our own homes, people worried about the world ending but it already did, We walking dead in the world of hell, cause the not much living when we wake up every day with the fear of dying.
This gets me scared because usually during the night, my mom goes out to a fitness class and gets home like at 8 pm and theirs gangbangers living on the next street of my house and it scares me because in the summer there were gangbangers walking down my street and this car stooped hard and got out the car and followed the other gangbangers with a bat.
My first time I felt scared of the gun was when I was in the 7 grade summer vacation I was in my house and 3 shots pop out everyone went outside to see what was happening and it was a drive-buy they shoot a person on the right leg and in the neck. I had a uncle that was in a band he sang Mexican music he was going to this concert a black truck stop in front of the bus and 6 people got out and just started to shoot on the bus like crazy they kill everyone in the bus including my uncle there was no survivor.
The first fear I felt of violence was when I got shot at just two blocks away from my house earlier this year in the summer. I never told my mom or anyone because of the freedom I would lose to hang out with my friends, go out, or even be in after school programs till after 6:00. It makes me feel like yelling at cops and patrol, don’t sleep on it! We go verses other countries and we can’t even control our own.
The first time I had fear of violence it was because they had robbed our basement, and I was really scared not only for me but for my family. But I was relieved that that’s my dogs were ok because they could have hurt them. Ever since that happened I felt really scared that people are going to come to my house and take my parents or my sister. That’s why I need to be prepared if one day it happens. That’s why violence should stop because the people involved don’t know what it feels like losing somebody.
The first time I saw a shooting is when I was 9 years old. My friend was outside in front of their porch at night with her uncle and then out of nowhere, a gang member shot the uncle and my friend was crying for help and the police came with the ambulance. I never talked to anyone when I was 4 to 10 years old. I didn’t know what to feel except on being tired since it was midnight.
About two or three years ago there was a shooting at Nixon Elementary, the school my little brother attends to. It was outside, while the little kids were having recesses, minding their own business and being happy. To think that anything could have happened to my brother if those teachers wouldn’t have been calmed and taken action right away. No I realize how awful that could have been.
I have a story of my own due to violence and the power of a gun. About thirty years ago, a father of a little girl who was still inside her mother womb died. A few days before her birth to think he never met her youngest daughter. Many people say that he was shot while riding a horse, at a party, other because of women. The truth, honestly nobody seems to really know. Due to that fact the little girl was born and she was left with her two sisters with her aunts while her mother came to America in search of the so called American Dream. That poor little girl never really lived with her mom, even though her mom visits her it wasn’t the same. She used to be treated bad by her aunts sometimes but there was nothing she could’ve done about it. It wasn’t until she was about eighteen years old that she actually came to America to live with her mother. That poor girl was my mom and that poor dead man who is in heaven now was my grand-father. I know my mom doesn’t like to talk about it but I know it kills her. Sometimes I cry for her loss in silence. To think her whole life could’ve been so different. Yet, justice happens sooner or later and that men died the same way he killed my grand-father.( R.I.P Domingo Segura)
I remember the first time that I remember that I felt that I was about to die in a shooting, was when I was about 6-8 years old. It was when I was at my uncle’s house and we were outside, because my dad was fixing his car and my brother and another uncle were helping him. All of a sudden we heard a car speeding and people screaming and the car was coming our way.
There was one time I was coming out of my aunt ‘s house and they starting shooting , my sister and I duck so they gunshot wouldn’t hit us . After that we heard silence. My cousin came out from the house to see if nothing happen to us .He told us to run home and not to look back. We were really scared , when we got home we called him , he told us that they only killed his dog. Now when I walk home with my mom or my dad I don’t feel that save but I have to live with it.
The first time I was afraid of guns was on Nov 24, 2011. This day we were celebrating Thanksgiving. I remember that, this day we were decorating outside the house with the family. I remember they were three cars. Two were black and one was beige. I remember they stopped at the street corner when they came out of the car they went straight to my cousin. My cousin was wearing a black jacket and a whit e watch. They followed him and my cousin ran, he took his jacket off and the watch too. When they got to the house one of the guys had punched my cousin, making him bleed. My cousin ran to the house and went inside and graved a shovel. When he came out the guy had a gun pointing at him, I thought he was going to shot, but it didn’t happen. He graved the black jacket and the watch and left. That day I worried so much. My first thought was to get the little kids out of reach, I told my cousin to take them to the attic were I thought was safe.
One particular loss I have had in my family was of a cousin’s aunt. She meant a lot to me. She was the only one who was there when nobody was but now that she is gone, I don’t have anybody left.
Honestly, I feel scared when I walk out of my house. And just go walking to the corner store with my mom. My mom tells me not to be scared and that they won’t hurt me with her around. But I still don’t really feel scared. Whenever I see someone walking by me I feel like I should watch out to see him they would hurt me, Which I hope they don’t. But I’m scared, I’m scared I’ll get hurt on the streets, or just end up died. I just hope that it doesn’t happen to me or happen to someone that I know.
The first time I felt fear of guns, violence, or mine and my family’s safety was when I was in school and a student brought a knife. Although no one was hurt and the boy was caught I was still scared. Now sometimes even if I am in school I am still in fear that someone may bring a weapon.
As me and my sister as child my uncle had a gun, my cousin was playing with it and she pointed to my sisters head and she told us only air was going to come out of it. But when she press it a little metal ball came and got stuck in the middle of my sisters head, since then I don’t trust no one with guns.
The first time that I started to feel fear about guns knives or other stuffs was when I was little I was like 6 years old. Well this is was happen I was waking up and I was about to open up the curtain of the room and then suddenly I see this random guy that had a knives and out of nowhere he came in stabbing the door for no reason. I was scare that I told my parents but when they went outside the guy wasn’t there no more. The other time pass were there was a shooting at Nixon school and well one of my nieces was their outside. Well the kids were in recess with the teacher and out of nowhere their start shooting and well the teacher told all the kids to get in the ground and to stay there. The good thing no one got shot but after that they transfer my nieces to another school at James Otis School. Then like 2 years ago they were, well they shot my sister car and in the car there was one of my nieces and my nephew and my sister two. We don’t know who but they starting to shoot my sister car. It was 3 shots they made. For a little bit one of my nieces or my nephew was going to get shot but they got on time to put their heads down and my sister too. Good thing nothing happen to them but my sister got so scare she was shaking when she go home. After all those things I seen I been scare of violence. I will always remember those days.
The first time I felt fear is when my younger brother and I were playing outside. Our neighborhood is pretty safe so our parents let us be out. Well my younger brother and I were playing catch and all of a sudden I hear gun shots. We didn’t really pay much attention to it because our neighborhood never has shootings. So we kept playing and then we see a group of people running and we were confused because we didn’t know what was going on and then SHOOT! There goes another gun shot into the house we were next too.
I also lost my only uncle due to shooting and guns. He was a very friendly person. Just because he had tattoos and piercings didn’t mean that he was a bad guy. He was shot by some guys when he was in the car waiting for his kids to come out so that he can take them to chucky cheese. He had 5 kids. A six year old daughter, 5 year old son, 4 year old twin girls and 5 months baby girl. I really miss him. I bet his kids do to.
When I was 6 year old the same age my dad friend had a gun and was showing of the gun and on accident he shot my bird. I didn’t even know what a gun was a put I knew on the moment how powerful they’re and useless because why do we need them to kill people ?
The first time I started having fears of violence was when my aunt told us to come to the store with her. When we came back from the store people had robbed our house. They opened the back door. We got robbed two times.
Every day I fear my mom getting kidnapped, raped and killed. She works early in the morning; it’s still dark outside when she leaves. It’s not easy to focus when you have a lot of things on your mind and I know I’m not the only one. All my life I’ve been surrounded by gang violence, guns, knives, all of that. It hasn’t been easy. Many of my family members have been approached by gangs and have had their things taken away because they fear getting killed. If you don’t give them what they want, who knows what might happen to you. If you were to call the police they would arrive like 3 hours later. By that time so many people could be dead. I mean, it only take about 15 minutes to enter a house, rob it, and get out. You even have time to kill somebody. Knowing this could happen to my little cousins, nephew, niece… my little brother… it’s terrifying. I don’t even want to think about it. You always hear that somebody died around the block or around the corner. A little girl got kidnapped in front of the corner store around my house. It’s just like 50 steps away. And I go to buy stuff there when I want a snack or something. I could’ve been that little girl and never see my family or friends ever again. Gangs think they rule this area. And they do. Why?
Growing up and to this day I’ve never really had a fear of guns or violence but I am afraid of being by myself in this area. Even if I’m in a car with the windows down a little, doors locked and its bright as day outside, I still feel like I’m in danger when strangers pass by. When I’m alone I wonder, “Are they going to do something to me? Am I truly safe?”
I remember it was about September of 2007 and it was dark out. My sister and her boyfriend were out and about, going to the corner store to get some milk. My cousin ran down to the basement where my mom and I were. She yelled “HURRY! Geana and Jay were jumped! The cops are on their way” That day to me is still crystal clear and the reason for that is because I was traumatized. I never experienced something this terrible and my sister was the closest person to me. I couldn’t imagine losing her or her boyfriend at the time. Thankfully they were both ok just a few cuts and bruises. I don’t know if my sister is still fazed by it or thinks about it but I know I do.
The first time I felt fear of guns, violence, and my family safety was about 7-8 years ago. My mom had picked me and my brother up from school and we were walking home she had my baby sister in the stroller about a year old and a drive by suddenly happens. Two cars drive by the opposite direction shooting everywhere, my mom put me under the stroller and my brother underneath too, she covered my baby sister so nothing could happen to her, when a lady came out of nowhere and told us to go inside her house. Ever since that day I’ve been scared of walking down a block to pick up my sister, the fear of thinking that something could happen to my sister and cousin.
I can relate with loss of senseless shootings because I lost a cousin, one of my older cousins, because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. He was hanging out with his friends when all of a sudden some guys come out of nowhere shooting at them thinking they were in a gang when my cousin was not involved in that kind of stuff. One of the many bullets that were shot hit my cousin and died instantly. I was so sad and depressed for so long because I had a really tight relationship with him. He was like a big brother to me he always use to call me his little sister. What got me mad was that this happens all the time around my neighborhood and people like the police officers and the government isn’t doing anything to stop all these killings.
The first time people starts shooting by my house I was it scared. I think I was it scared because I all was playing shooting games and looking at shooting movies and I used to all that shooting and stuff. My friend was in a gang and he was selling drugs on the corner and some people came up and shot at him and his friends and they killed him.
My cousin Justin R.I.P died because of a gun. He was walking with my other cousin to go to a party it was a family party and on the way there someone had shot him. They were going to shoot my other cousin too but then the one who shot Justin jumped in front of him because it was his brother. He saved him he tried to walk back home he made it there, we were all crying a lot and we were scared called the cops they took so long he was dying on the floor. Next thing we he died 5 minutes later. To me he died a hero.
So well my uncle was running away from the people who had the gun and then, and then the people who had the gun there were like four people running to on the sidewalk and the other two were on the street running so that day that they were shooting umm the person who had the gun he shot the wrong person that was my uncle he had to shoot the other person because both of them have the same height and the same everything because they are friends. rip uncle George.
The first time I felt fear of guns, violence, and my family’s safety, along with my own, was when I heard gun shots for the first time and saw the man who got shot injured on the floor, getting taken care of by police men and firefighters while they waited for the ambulance to get there. Even scarier was the fact that it happened at the corner of the street I live, which was a few houses away. I was outside, walking home with my mom, sister, brother, dad, uncle, aunt, grandma, and grandpa. I immediately felt fear. I lost a cousin in Mexico, due to violence. I never even get o meet him but I was assured that he was a nice and respectful teenager that was not involved in gangs or anything related. He died at a party, stabbed multiple times. I almost lost an uncle, who got beat up nearly to death. He was in the hospital for a long time, but his brain won’t be able to work like it used to. Another cousin also, they stole the little money he had, and left him on the floor, almost dead, but thankfully he survived.
I haven’t felt fear of nothing. Maybe because nothing has happened to me or because I don’t have fear of guns because when I was little they showed me how to use one. After that I was not scared of guns. I do have fear about my family because if something happened to them I would get mad and sad at that. Same time I lost one family member.
I guess the first time I felt fear of me and my families’ safety is when is we started watching the news and saw how violent our world is. I had one cousin and an aunt killed because of gun violence. They shot them right at their house in Honduras and for no reason they were not bad people. We need to find a good way to stop the gun violence in this world.
My recent experiences were related to gun shots also. In Gary Indiana two cousins were at home and my oldest cousin Darrell heard a Knock at the Door and he went to open the door and didn’t recognize the man’s face at the door, so my cousin started to close the door and the guy reached his hand in the door and started shooting. Around the side of the house was another man with a gun and he was on the side where my other cousin was and the guy started shooting through the window... BOOM! My cousin Mikey had been shot. As my cousin Darrell had made it around to Mikey there was nothing but blood on the floor and mikey was dead. He had already been fighting with diabetes trying to alive. It was hard on the Family.
One day I was at Mozart park with 3 of my friends just chillen and we were walking and this guy with a with t-shirt was hissing at us saying he was Cobra love, and we stood frozen for a sec and the guy pulled out the gun and started shooting at us.
The first time I felt the fear of guns was 2 weeks ago. I was walking home with my friends on Wabansia and while we were walking home we heard gun shots and we all ran into my friends’ house. I was so scared. My heart was pumping so loud that I could hear it. It was pumping so fast that if I just put my hand near it, I could feel it pumping. Every day I fear that something bad is going to happen like that. I’m not exactly the fastest runner, so I am scared.
For me I don’t feel safe at mom’s house because last time I lived with her in 5th grade our house got raided that’s probably the most I’ve ever been scared I didn’t know what I was going on and all I had seen was big guys and bigger guns. Even though this is a bad area I don’t feel safe nor do I feel scared I just try not worry or think about what could HAPPEN but I also don’t like living here because my parents are more protective. In midway were I use to live my parents let me go where ever as long as they knew where I was but here the hardly let me out. -____-
I remember the first time I felt fear of guns. It was when I was in the car with my brother and my cousin, some guys passed by next to us and thought my brother banged. They started throwing down gang signs and yelling at him. Once the light turned green we drove off, they chased us and shot at us. That’s when I REALLY got scared. I’m used to the other stuff, but when they started shooting all my fear came out, I thought we were going to die.
I have a cousin his name is Daniel and he’s 8 I can’t imagine it happening to my own family that loss. This could of happened in any elementary school in Connecticut maybe not even in Connecticut it could of happened in Chicago maybe even in my brothers elementary school that’s horrible to think about. Sometimes I’m scared of guns and violence when I look out my window and I see gangbangers on the corner. I’m scared when my mom, dad, brother, sisters are out and I don’t know where they are. I’ve never gotten hurt from gun violence and I don’t know anybody who has but I don’t want there to be a first time.
My first time was last week when my friend and my cousin well not really a cousin just a real close friend got shot my friend Jeffrey died and my other friend Flocka got shot in the hand . But he was on the corner my other friend went to jail because he was selling drugs so that’s why he went to jail. I lost the feeling of going outside anymore because I’m always getting gang banged at. Get rid of the guns and weapons and the gangs.
I guess I started too fear guns, violence, and all that when I moved too Philly. Philly and Chicago are a lot alike. They both have the whole gang violence thing. Last year, 1/11/11 - 1/12/1, 3 of my close friends were shot and murdered. They died over something irrelevant. It had to do with gang violence. 3 lives lost over stupid stuff.
When I first felt fear toward violence and guns was the time when my cousins and I were at the park. People started running, then, we heard some gunshots. The park was full of little kids and the parents got their kids and ran out in a heartbeat.
The first time I had fear living in my neighborhood is when I seen a man get shot while riding his bike and died in front of me but now I overcome my fear and now its normal to me just keep your guard up and make sure you have a good future.
Kids these days live in fear everyday walking home, taking the bus anything that keeps us out the house is dangerous and it’s not good to live the way we do. Anybody can be an innocent by-stander and people accuse innocent kids of being gang members. It’s pretty messed up to me. Another thing that scares me walking home is like being raped because there are a lot of nasty guys in this world. People are so worried about stuff that doesn’t matter they should start worrying about things that do matter.
The first time I ever felt fear was when I was like 5 because I would love to go to the park every afternoon and play till I was too tired. So one day two gangs started yelling at each other and before I knew it there were bullets in the air going everywhere. I think nobody should have guns in the first place.
The first thing I did when I got home was to hug my sister. I was happy and excited to see her alive and be thankful that my sister is still here with us. The last time we didn’t felt save was 2-3 weeks ago. Around 3 or 4a.m. we always heard shooting right next to my house. I heard on the news that a boy got shoot and before he die he wrote a letter for his parents saying he was sorry for not being a perfect kid, and one of the little girls who die it remind it me of my baby sister because she would write a letter to who ever felt sad to feel happy.
My first time that I felt fear of guns was when I was 7 years old because one day my dad’s friend was drunk and he had gun with ammo, so then he shoot right next to me and my dad saw and got really mad and he almost was going to get into a fight with his friend
I get scare when people talk about die or when people talks xabout kill someone ..one time when I was with my uncles house a man came to my uncles house and he was mad because my uncle took her daughter and that man kill my cousin and now I’m scare when I see people with goons or I hear that they kill somebody
The first time I felt scared of guns, violence my safety and my family’s safety was when I went to 6 grade and 8 grade. Why? Because I’ve been bullied before and until know everything is good thank god.
I’ve experienced violence before and it feels horrible. I’m like a little traumatized because at school everybody would try to scare me and they did but there was this time that a student from my class told me that he was going to kill me and he was going to kill my brother too. I started crying like crazy because he was and still is a gangbanger ever since that time I’ve been scared for myself and my brothers.
I’ve witnessed a shooting in the back of my house and I guess they knew I saw and the same day they burned my house to the ground. Luckily, none of my family were in the house except for my cat Bandit. I’m not so sensitive but to hear about kids my brother’s age makes me so sad. No one deserves to die at such a young age. My cousin witnessed the death of his only brother in an alley at the age of 6 and the way he felt and acts, I couldn’t imagine the way the students & parents felt. I wish peace to the school in Connecticut and to the parents.
I’m the youngest and I have 2 other brothers. My old brother told me that when he was 9 years old, he was walking home from school. Right when he got on the street of where we lived at, gangs started shooting at each other. He started to run and he almost got shot. My brother made it home and my mom was going crazy.
I have 2 cousins that is 6 and 7 year old. I’m scare of my safety because like 3 weeks ago, they shot a gang member like 2 blocks away from my house it was like 5:00 am in the morning and I heard the shots and it sounded loud and close to my house. From the massacre we are going to learn about this and make a safer nation so in the future it won’t happen again.
The Fear I Felt Was When It Was My Birthday Party And A Shooting Broke Out And A Young Girl Got Shot And Killed And I Felt Scared Because Anything Can Happen Any Day And Any Time. I Know That When I Go Out Side Anything Can Happen In Any Second. I Know That One Day Something Can Happen Because Guns Can Be Found Any Where Now And Days.
I Remember When my Best Friend Tiana Had Lost Her Cousin Because They Wanted To Play Cops And Robbers And They Had Found A Real Gun , Their Young So They Didn’t Know And One Of The Brothers Had Shot The Other Because They Didn’t Know It Was A Real Gun. Till This Day They Didn’t Know That It Was A Real Gun.
Many of my family members have gotten killed; it’s because of the violence. And it’s just really painful to lose such innocents just because all these cold hearted people that are mentally ill.
I felt scared this one time when I was little me and my mom heard shooting we were inside the house we just got down because some gang members actually went and hid in people’s houses so we waited and waited to the shooting stopped growing up I was simply afraid of going out alone for the same reason of gun violence.
I think that the first time I started getting scared of guns is when I was like 10 years old. Because one day I seen a video and the guy shot someone and it was really sad. I think that all the bad people should go to jail for life. Because they took a person’s life so they should pay for what they did. In my opinion I think that they should have a bullet proof glass for all the class rooms in the whole world for schools. And should always keep their doors locked.
I used to go to Nixon just a few blocks from north grand. But a lot of shooting started happing around my family. My cousin got shot on her birthday they were aiming for her boyfriend but shot her. The cops pulled up on us and of course the shooter got away and was never arrested. And my dad kept getting shot at because his windows were tinted black. And then we finally moved because my brother looks like a gangbanger and my dad did not want him to join a gang. so we moved away but I still go to school here I think it will be very hard but Obama should do something about this.
I first felt scared of violence when I used live in a street where there was shootings all night. One night the bullets hit a school and went through a window. It was a good thing that nobody was inside the school at that time. To stop senseless killing we must stop selling automatic weapons. We also need security in all schools and at least a cop or two in them.
A year ago, my uncle passed away because of a gun. He got shot a multiple number of times before his life was gone. Things like this should make people want to change their life. Someone could die in a twinkling of an eye! I feel sorry for the parents of the little kids! I remember when my uncle passed away. My grandma couldn’t handle it. She was depressed for a long time.
The first time I felt fear of violence was in my old neighborhood. This is the Cragin Park area. I couldn’t walk nowhere without gangbangers harassing me or cops stopping me. And there were a lot of shootings. Because of the violence my mom doesn’t really let me go places. Because of what can or might happen.
Well the first time I felt fear for my family was when I was nine years old and my sister was six. My mom and her friend went to the park with us. We were there playing and two cars came out of nowhere and started shooting at each other. My mom then grabbed my sister and told me to get down on the ground behind the surrounding barriers of the playground. We were hiding until we heard sirens and then the police told us it was ok to come out. We then came out of hiding and the policemen asked us if we saw what happened and if we were hurt. We then left to the house and told what have happened to my dad and he felt sad and cried for whatever could have happened to us.
The first time I felt a fear of guns was when my dad’s car got shot up by 46st luckily he got out of the car on time and didn’t get hurt since that day he moved to the Bellwood suburbs. Another situation was when my cousin was getting home from work some guys shot at him some guys shot at him from a car but they only hit his leg so he is handicapped so he and his family moved to Texas forever and they only come to visit on some holidays
The first time I felt fear of guns and violence is when a gang member pulled out a gun on me just because I did not have their colors on and some other gang colors on does not mean I’m from that gang or in a gang.
The first time I feared for guns, violence was when I was young and hear about a boy who was playing a lot of violence games. His mom was sleeping he had asked for her to buy him the game she said, no but he began to beg so she did. That night the game involved guns, and knives other weapons at the end of the game it said “its kill time” over and over he went to the kitchen got a knife and stabbed his mom. He killed her. This was pretty sad and scary at the same time. I have a lot of bad experiences of a lot of people who’ve been hurt and killed a teenage boy got killed in front of my house by some gang members and of course because of the use of guns.
I have similar experience with them by hearing police cars everyday sirens having to walk home being worried to see a gang fight or even being of the middle of shooting is really scary to think of and it is like your supposed to be walking to a safe place and the next thing you know there is little kids in serious danger .
The first time I felt the fear of violence is the day when my sister and my 3 year old niece was out walking my dog and 4 young boys was running past them with guns and they was shooting at some other boys. And we had to run down 2 set of stairs just to make sure they was ok. They was ok!!
The first time I felt Fear of a gun was when I was a 6 year old child Why?”. Because at that time they killed my closer cousin ever in the back. YES!” I’ve been through all that I’ve seen it with my own eyes and it isn’t a good thing to see while growing up. And I’m afraid of Guns. They have to take away those kind of weapons from now on. Now I’m even scared to walk home or even pick up my brother from school because of violence. It’s so CRAZY!”
I cannot relate to someone because I have not lost a child family member but my cousin was on the point of dying he got shot by some petty people that thought he was banging. Now to me I don’t know what goes throw they people’s minds but it must not be a lot because when u shot and kill a person you just don’t hurt them you hurt every one that ever new then it’s sad and petty it’s just horrible.
I have seen mothers cry over the loss of a full grown son so imagine having to deal with the loss of a child who never did anything to anyone it must be devastating. For as long as I can remember I have always been around guns or not to far from one so I guess I’m kind of numb to them but nobody can be numb to the lost of children even if u have no relation. I’ve lost a lot of friends to gun violence but gun violence only leads to gun violence so I try not think about it too much .
The first time that I felt fear for my family’s safety was when my aunt walks my two little cousins to school every morning . Now I am worried about them. The experience I had was one of my family members got shot right in front of me and his blood was on my hands. I think that we should get rid of all the guns in the US and they should not be allowed back in.
Sometimes I’m scared walking home. When I walk I’m always looking back and inside the cars. Since I was a shawty I would do that. I’m so use to it that sometimes I don’t know that I’m doing it. In some way I feel mad because I really don’t know I just feel mad and sad. Now I’m scared for my little brother and sister to go to school. I just hope nothing happens to them. One of the reason that gets me sad is it reminds me when I my father died the day was born! When I hear gun shots or someone dying it reminds me of him.
The first time I felt fear of guns and violence was when I was like 4 or 5 years old and I was 10 years old when I was afraid of losing any member of my family. I was afraid of losing my dad when he got in a car accident in his way to work. He had a car accident with 5 of his friends but luckily his injury wasn’t that serious. I would do anything for my dad because he’s my everything. He’s always there for me when I need him.
My first time I felt fear for guns and violence was when they shot my brother, and when my best friend (girl) got jumped really bad by about 7 girls and 3 guys. They were gangbangers and beat her up so bad that she like passed out for a couple of seconds, she was in a coma. I don’t think my family is safe. My brothers especially because they are gangbangers. They can get shot anytime. I couldn’t deal with that. What if they don’t survive and die. There’s a lot of bad people out there who doesn’t care and have no heart. That’s why we all have to be looking out because this world isn’t safe anymore.
The first time I felt fear of guns or violence is that I see that so many times in the streets with gangs I’m just tired of that I’m pretty sure everybody is. I’m even scared to walk to school or to walk back home because there are gangbangers in that block where I walk by and his always there with his crew outside his house. They always stare at the people that pass by and I have to ignore them even if there looking at me I just look the other way. I think what we should do to stop all these are stop the gangs for mental people to get help because these are the ones causing these deaths and that’s just sad. They should stop all the violence already
When my best friend got shot and died when I was about 11 or 10. He invited me to play basketball with him I came late and when I got there it was 5o all over the place and he was dead. I think no one should have guns when I was 12 I had a gun. I got rid of it. So this stuff hurt me to here that lil kids got shot 4 no fucking reason. They had dreams I bet and some stupid ass dude took it man they ain't right. If my sis dead ill kill myself she only 6 so yeah I know how those kids mom and dad feel. But I got one question lil kids die every day why is this such a big deal it should be like this all the time when a lil kid die.
The time I began to be scare of guns and violence was when they almost killed my brother. When they went to my house to let me know, I ran to my brother and he was on the ground. I was crying and shaking. The next day they called saying that they were going to kill my brother. I was so scare, now I don’t even come out by myself because I’m scare that they’ll come to my house thinking my brother is home and start shooting. I’m really scared and I don’t want nothing to happen to my family or friends.
Not too long ago, my older cousin got shot at by gang bangers and died.
The first time I felt the fear of gun violence was when I was at this park and these two gangbangers were fighting. Then they left then came back shooting. I was very scared.
One time I felt fear of gun violence and for the safety of my family was when I used live in my old house by Austin and Diversey. There was a big commotion outside with my mom and somebody and everyone was out curious as to what the yelling was about. Neighbors, friends, families, and all my siblings were out watching my mom and the lady argue. After minutes of arguing a van came by and started shooting. Everyone and their momma ran towards any house and went in for safety. It was some gangbangers being stupid. Luckily no one was hurt and everyone was okay.
My block always has shootings.Last week there was one in the middle of the day, and we all hid in our closets. I have lost a lot of family members to gun violence.
I heard about guns when I was 4. I was at a park and on the swings and I heard gunshots. My mom picked me up and we just ran.
I’ve heard gunshots many times. I’ve been shot at before but I wasn’t the target. I’ve seen people get shot and killed. I’ve just wondered why I haven’t been hit yet.
The first time I heard gunshots was in the street of Pulaski. What I did was look out the window to see what was happening but I saw nothing outside.
When I was 8 years old, I was sleeping and I heard a loud sound outside the house. I also heard screams and people shouting. I got scared and went to my mom’s room to sleep.
I also have worries about the safety of my family because my mom and big brother work at a factory and they might get really hurt. Also because my brother got shot at by a gang member that was shooting at another one. My brother was at the hospital for a long time and I was really worried about him.
I’ve always lived in a “ghetto” neighborhood so gunfire, gangbanging, and people selling drugs don’t really disturb me anymore.
The first time I felt fear was when about a month ago a lady got shot in my block and got killed. My grandpa died when he was walking at night. He got shot.
The first time I had a fear of guns was when I was 7. There was a drive-by when we were at a party. But now I’m used to it.
I really identify with [the grief of parents over the Sandy Hook shooting] because it makes me think about my baby.
The very first time that I feared guns was when my old house got shot two days in a row. When you went in the house the first room was the living room. I was watching TV in the living room when it happened, both times. My family was the first thing I thought about when I dropped to the floor.
The first time I actually saw a gun and got really terrified was one time coming home from school. Gang members were fighting and shooting at each other and I was walking down the block.
My first time I felt fear was when I was 7 years old. Some guy was shooting. He was next to me. I got scared but my mom was there. She told me to stay on the floor. I think that was the worst experience in my life.
I kinda lost my brother to gang violence many times. He isn’t dead or anything but years of jail and being so far away, it feels like we lost him.
The first time I was in fear was when I was walking home from my friend’s house. I was walking, not paying attention to my surroundings, and I started hearing shots pretty close. Next thing I know, a bullet goes through my legs and I started running home. I felt they’d follow me and fire at my family too but they didn’t.
I know my neighborhood is dangerous because they fight a lot. There are a lot of gangs.
The first time I ever felt scared or in danger was when some gangbanger shot up my house. I honestly thought I was gonna die.
My little cousin was shot in the neck two years ago. He almost survived but lost too much blood. I saw him lying on the floor but I couldn’t find the courage to see if he was okay.
My friends and I were walking home from school one day. We were on Wabansia and Hamlin when all of a sudden we hear shots ring out by the bridge. My friend screamed and we ran for safety at my other friend’s house.
My first time when I felt scared was when somebody killed my uncle. After that I felt horrible because in my country [Guatemala] we have a lot of violence and little security. After that I had the worst experience when they killed my wonderful Dad.
Gun violence for me was normal. When I lived on Lawndale and Ridgeway, shootings did occur a lot and cop car chases did happen a lot.
The first time I felt fear about gun violence is when I was still in middle school and we were living in this old apartment. My grandparents heard a gunshot from the living room. We turned off the light. My grandpa told us to get down. I heard “Oh my God!” over and over. That was when I thought men were killing us. I was scared for my brother and my grandparents.
When I was three years old, I thought, “I must protect my family at all costs”.
One time, like at 8:00 p.m., I was outside in my front porch with my cousin. I live like two houses away from an alley. We were just chilling when we heard these gun shots really close in the alley. I ran inside after the gun shot and came back out. My cousin just stayed outside because he’s used to it.
Once my mom, dad and I were at a Laundromat. Me and my dad were sitting down and all of a sudden we hear a gun shot. The guy in front of us was bleeding to death. After that moment I was scared of going out to the streets by myself.
One day my cousin got into an argument with some boys at a restaurant. The boys followed him home and shot up our house. The boys didn’t know there were kids in that house. They didn’t care, either. After that, I knew people didn’t care who they hurt with guns. I knew we had a problem.
My friend who was 15 years old got shot 5 times in his body by walking in the street with some different colors. He wasn’t supposed to wear them there. I talked to him two days before he died. I found out when he came out in the news. I couldn’t believe it was him. I don’t know if they arrested the guy who shot him.
A gang member from the block where I used to live…they killed him because he was really violent and didn’t care about people.
The first time I felt fear about gun shooting was when they shot this little girl on the stairs outside her house. That was in the same street by my house.