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The day was September 11, 2001. That day would
change my life forever. I felt sorry for all the families who lost
their loved ones. They either lost their family in the twin towers,
the Pentagon, or even the Pennsylvania field. I was just glad that
my family was safe. I woke up and saw my mom in front of the
television. She said that a plane crashed into one of the twin
towers. I watched as the second plane flew into the second twin
tower. I was terrified. I watched the rest of the tragic news as it
came. When I saw President Bush
giving a speech, I felt safer. This is part of his speech about what
happened on 9/11.
“Immediately following the first attack,
I implemented our government's emergency response plans. Our
military is powerful, and it's prepared. Our emergency teams are
working in New York City and Washington, D.C. to help with local
rescue efforts. Our first priority is to get help to those who
have been injured, and to take every precaution to protect our
citizens at home and around the world from further attacks.”
This is how violence has changed my life
forever. When I try to get on a plane they search from head to toe.
A few months after 9/11 my family had to go pick up my cousins at
the airport. I was so scared when they didn’t come off the plane
right away as I saw a few men that looked like they had done
something wrong. After a few minutes my three cousins finally came
off the plane. I was so relieved. I used to love flying, but after
9/11 I feared getting on planes.
Violence is not just an airplane being crashed into a building. It
is the day to day events that shape our lives. An example of
day-to-day violence that affected me involved my brother. I will
never forget my brother’s screams. My mom ran outside to see that
one of our ten year old neighbors was trying to hang my brother from
a tree. This neighbor was a kid that was younger than my brother but
he was much bigger. He liked to bully my brother but this went too
far. We stopped him, but then he ran off. Another day his little
brother was spitting on us while we rode our bikes. We were so mad
that we wanted to do something but we didn’t. We moved shortly after
that and now are happy with our neighbors. This is another form of
violence that has affected my life.
One might ask what causes violence. One of the causes of violence is
jealousy. You could get jealous if someone is popular or looks good.
If someone has something that you don’t have but you want, that is
also a type of jealousy. You might want to cause harm to that
person. Peer pressure is also a cause of violence. A group of people
could make you feel like you’re a bad person and tell you they will
not be your friend if you don’t do what they say.
Drugs can be a cause of violence too. I was watching the news when
they said there had been an accident. I listened more and they said
that a drunk driver had hit another car. The passenger in the other
car had been killed but the drunk driver survived. It has caught my
attention that the innocent driver always gets killed but the drunk
driver never does.
One of the ways I can prevent violence is to report the violence
right when it happens. At school I saw a fight so I reported it to
my principal. The two kids got suspended. People should not start
violence in the first place, and then violence will never happen. I
can donate clothes or money to the victims of a hurricane or
tsunami. You can also put yourself in the person’s shoes who is
getting bullied. You can help them out and calm them down. You can
stop the fight by doing this. These are just a few ways you can
prevent violence. Will you make a difference? |
