“It’s only me”

I think the article was given the title “It’s only me” because many children think that they’re all alone and they are the only ones who are miserable. But in fact: they are not. They are not the only children who are being bullied, and they are not the only ones to feel neglected by their parents: they are not alone. But it may feel like it, and that needs to change. I see a clear pattern of the backgrounds, of the actions, the children who did a shooting. They should seek for help and not keep it all inside. The title is saying a lot about how many children feel sometimes. “I’m odd”, “I do not fit in” and “I am definitely the only one to fell like this” – actually they are not, they just don’t realise it and that’s one of the major problem in these cases. Andy Williams is not the only one to feel like this. I like the title, mostly because we all tried to have that feeling of being the “only one”/”the odd one” and it also make you realise a lot of thinks about how others may feel about actions you might make. If I had to choose another title, I would call it: “A cry for help”. It’s catchy and I think that’s what those children’s actions are based on: a cry for help. They want those things, which make them miserable, to stop.

The first impression of the writer’s attitude, according to me, is that he makes you think of Andrew like “he was the one who started” or “he inspired others to do it” - but the further you read, he make you realise and points out; that we have to remember that this is only one in a million of times something like this happens. It happens anywhere to anyone. We always have this comfortable thought of “it will never happen to us”, but what if it did? My impression of the writer is that he wants the message about this happening anywhere and it may happen near you, and there is no one to blame. You can’t blame one single person, in this situation you can’t say “oh, but he started”. The message is also that parents needs to be aware of how their children is doing in school and talk more with them. Most children don’t tell their parents if they get bullied and most parents not even feel if something is wrong. Parent’s needs to be aware that their child might be so miserable, by feeling neglected or are being bullied, and they may end up doing like Andrew. I keep on finding more messages in the text as I read: like we need to talk with the children after such a traumatic experience, like most parents did at 9/11. The children also need’s to know why and how this can happen, and it happens anywhere at anytime. Not to scare them, but make them understand that it is a serious problem and they also need to know that a schoolmate actually can kill other students at the school. I also think, that there is a message to the schools: they should have more precautions for situations like this. Again the thought “it will never happen to us”, and the schools often act after a shooting, but they should do something even before it happens. We should not close our eyes for the problem, but accepting it and do the best we can to increase the frequency of those kinds of actions. Stop the shooting even before it happens.

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