This week we’re joined by Adriana and Noeh, two students at Henrietta M. King High School in Kingsville, Texas. Their school is in Kingsville ISD, the same district whose superintendent Dr. Cissy Reynolds-Perez spoke with us in our last episode.
Adriana and Noeh open up about their reactions to the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas – about 200 miles northwest of Kingsville – that took the lives of 19 students and 2 teachers on May 24, 2022.
They share their feelings about yet another mass shooting – shock, fear, anger, hope – and reflect on how this latest tragedy impacts their daily lives, what can be done to prevent another, and how to hold onto hope.
This week we’re joined by Adriana and Noeh, two students at Henrietta M. King High School in Kingsville, Texas. Their school is in Kingsville ISD, the same district whose superintendent Dr. Cissy Reynolds-Perez spoke with us in our last episode.
Adriana and Noeh open up about their reactions to the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas – about 200 miles northwest of Kingsville – that took the lives of 19 students and 2 teachers on May 24, 2022.
They share their feelings about yet another mass shooting – shock, fear, anger, hope – and reflect on how this latest tragedy impacts their daily lives, what can be done to prevent another, and how to hold onto hope.
(INTRO MUSIC)
WELCOME– HOST GILLIAN PARKER (00:05)
Hey there. Welcome to the All Teens Considered podcast. I'm your host, Gillian Parker.
Quick disclaimer. All Teens Considered is not a replacement for therapy or personalized advice. We just hope that what we do provides something relatable or insightful for whatever you and your friends might be dealing with.
The purpose of All Teens Considered is to explore whatever teens are thinking and feeling right now. We actually talk to and survey young people because that's who this podcast is for. In addition to that, we also interview experts in their fields, especially mental health professionals, so we can get their expert opinion on the biggest issues facing young people. Right now.
Basically, we just want to change the stigma around mental health and make mental health education more interesting. Come up with more clear-cut things to actually do about it and just make the whole thing a lot more normal.
So if you're a teenager listening right now know that this podcast is for you. So we would love to hear from you if there are any issues or topics that you want to hear about. Um, if there's anything we can do to make ATC better for you, please let us know. You can share your thoughts by texting us at 512-537-1778.
PREVIOUSLY IN EPISODE 7 – DR. CISSY REYNOLDS-PEREZ, SUPT. (01:27)
In case you haven't listened to our previous episode with Dr. Cissy Reynolds Perez, superintendent of Kingsville Independent School District in Kingsville, Texas. I'll give you a recap of what we learned from Dr. Perez. Before we jump into hearing from two of Dr. Perez's students who share their voices on how they are feeling about school safety.
Dr. Perez shared some of the steps she went through the day of the Uvalde [TX} school shooting and what she did to communicate with her campus leaders and security staff that day.
It's worth taking the time to go back and listen to that previous episode if you haven't already. Dr. Perez's insights on how to be informed, communicate with your community, and protect your students will be helpful to leaders in other school districts.
She says “That's what educators do. We do everything we can to protect our students.”
GUEST INTRODUCTION (02:17)
In today's episode, we'll hear from Adriana and Noeh, two Kingsville ISD High School students. Their thoughts and insights are really important for all of us to learn from.
OUR CONVERSATION WITH STUDENTS ADRIANA AND NOEH
Melina Soroka, Co-Host (02:28)
Thank y'all so much for joining the All Teens Considered podcast, where we amplify teen voices and perspectives on a host of issues that are on their minds. And with us today, we have...
Adriana (02:42)
I'm Adriana. I'm going into the 12th grade.
Noeh (2:45)
I'm Noah and I'm going to be a junior this year.
Melina, Co-Host (02:47)
Awesome. Thank you, Adriana and Noeh. Great to have you on the All Teens Considered podcast.
We wanted to get together today following a really tragic event of the last week and a half or so, which was the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 students dead, two teachers dead on May 24th, which was Tuesday of last week.
When this happened, All Teens Considered knew it was important to amplify voices of people who are fighting for school safety and working to make sure that schools don't experience tragedies like this in the future.
So, Adriana and Noeh, we wanted to interview you. Tell us where and what school you're attending.
Adriana (03:35)
I go to HMK here in Kingsville [TX].
Noeh (03:37)
Same here. I go to HMK here in Kingsville.
Melina, Co-Host (03:39)
Right? So Kingsville Texas is about 40 miles southwest of Corpus Christi and Henrietta M King High School is the one public high school in the district. Is that right in the Kingsville ISD?
Noeh, Student (03:54)
Yes Ma'am.
Melina, Co-Host (03:55)
And my first question to each of y'all is how you are doing and feeling after the tragedy that took so many students and, and two teachers' lives the other day at Robb Elementary School? How are you doing and feeling after that?
Noeh (04:10)
I would say I'm pretty shocked about it. Knowing that it's so close to home and that it could happen anywhere if you really think about it. It kind of affects you and you think in a way like, well, I'm going to school tomorrow. Is it going to happen? It's sad to think about that.
Adriana (04:30)
I actually agree with Noeh. I do think that it makes me a little bit more worried going to school every day. And with my sisters – my youngest sister in elementary school, it just makes me a little bit more worried every day.
Melina, Co-Host (04:42)
Yeah, I can only imagine. Where were you, who were you with? What were you feeling when you heard the news of the shooting?
Noeh (04:49)
I was with my friend. I just got out of school and I was heading to the golf course at practice and we're in his truck and we're heading that way. And he tells me, did you hear what happened in Uvalde? And I was like, no, what, what happened? He goes, well, there was a shooting at an elementary school.
And at that point I was like, whoa, like I wasn't expecting that. I was expecting something else. And he told me how many kids and teachers died. That's quite a bit of numbers for that kind of small town and that it was so close to home. And it just kind of freaked me out, I guess, or just kind of made me start thinking in the back of my mind that, wow, like, that's sad to hear.
Adriana, Student (05:33)
Whenever I found out I was actually at lunch with my friends who were sitting at the table and my dad had actually texted this group chat we have. He told us about all the teachers and the students that had died through the shooting. Whenever I found out, I was pretty angry. Like to think that anybody could do such a thing. I just don't think that I couldn't imagine how cruel people could be to do something, especially to an elementary school. I just don't think it's right.
Melina, Co-Host (06:04)
Yeah. And I think a lot of people would agree with you and share the same sentiments as you all – shock. sadness, anger. Is there anything that stands out for you about the tragedy or about maybe your reaction to the tragedy?
Noeh, Student (06:22)
I would say that now that they're doing the investigation more and like I've been seeing things here and there that sometimes that you've seen with the past school shootings, that the shooter has actually posted pictures and stuff like that on social media, about them recently buying a gun or their violence on it.
And it kind of like shows that nobody really pays attention to it. And then once they start doing investigation about, they're like, well, he started posting this and his background and stuff like that. And it just shows you like how blind some people can be with that.
Adriana, Student (06:56)
I agree with that. I think that it definitely could have been prevented considering all the posts and everything that he was saying. It could have definitely been prevented and it could have got the help that he needed to prevent this whole situation from happening.
Melina, Co-Host (07:09)
I think that's a really important takeaway. As you said, Adriana, this can be prevented if people are paying attention. And like you said, Noeh, taking it seriously.
So how do you feel that you can get more adults to take seriously certain signs and demonstrations of this kind of behavior that someone might exhibit before a tragedy like this happens again? How do you help?
Noeh, Student (07:39)
I will say it's pretty hard to find that because, of course, I never saw it on social media because I never knew who the person was. So, it would be pretty hard to make it really stand out because who knows who's following him on Instagram or Facebook or whatever he posted it on. Who's actually following him? Who actually pays attention to it? That would be like, okay, this ain't right. I think he needs help or whatever, stuff like that.
Melina, Co-Host (08:09)
How are you moving forward from this point?
Adriana, Student (08:12)
From this point, it's just now you need to be well aware of your surroundings. You can't ever let your guard down anymore. I honestly just in school don't feel safe anymore.
Noeh, Student (08:25)
I think that it's sad to say that we have to face reality and that it does happen now, or it always has happened. And that it's sad to see that. Like I said, in the morning, you wake up, you go to school and you’re like this could possibly happen today. And it's kind of sad to think about that.
When I was little, of course, I never really knew anything about this. I go to school happy. I could see all my friends. But now that I'm older and I realize what's going on in the real world, that this actually happens. And it's scary to think about that going to school every day.
Melina, Co-Host (08:59)
I'm so sorry to hear that y'all feel this. And I would feel the same thing if I were actively a student again, which I was not too long ago. And I feel for you.
What do you think has been the hardest part of this? The aftermath of something like this?
Noeh, Student (09:16)
Well, I would definitely say, going to school every day, knowing what could possibly happen. We didn't know it was the last day until they announced it to us during the third or fourth period.
But my sister had stayed home because the school that she goes to, Gillette Intermediate, they got threats that day. She stayed home because you never know what could happen. They could be joking around. But at this time with that recent event, you can't really joke around about that and knowing if it's fake or not. So she stayed home from that.
Adriana, Student (09:53)
Yeah. I agree with that. Sometimes whenever something like this happens, kids tend to just take it as a joke and make fake threats or anonymous calls. And to me, that's childish and that's not taking it seriously. And it's kind of like considering the fact that we had to make that day, our last day of school due to those threats and the Gillette kids couldn't go to school due to those threats. It's ridiculous. I just don't think it's fair.
Melina, Co-Host (10:19)
What do you think needs to be done? What do you think students like that need so that they can properly process the tragedy? Because making jokes is not the way to do it, but they're doing it. So, what do you think needs to happen? What do you think the school needs to do or needs to provide for students after something like this occurs?
Noeh, Student (10:44)
I would definitely say to have like a kind of school meeting about it or a big talk about it saying like, well this happened and it's not a joke to really talk about it or make fake threats that you could actually get in really big trouble, even if you're just joking around.
And I think personally that the school should maybe hire [more officers]. Because at our school, we have two officers that roam the school. I think there for that situation if it were to ever happen, but I think they also need a higher, a little more security about it. So you can feel somewhat more safe.
Adriana, Student (11:15)
I agree with the security part, I think. Yes, we do have two officers, but if something like that were to happen, I just don't think that's enough. I think that we need more help if something like that were to happen to our school.
Melina, Co-Host (11:28)
Do you feel like the student body at your school has changed at all since this happened?
Noeh, Student (11:34)
I would say for sure. I would say even after a couple of days or a few days that it happened, of course, kids were still talking about it and kind of like still worried about it, especially on the last day of school.
Like we didn't know personally that it was the last day, like I said, until a third or fourth period when they let us know it's the last day of school. But I think the reason why they did it was because they didn't really want a person to plan anything to happen if something were to really happen. I think it really did affect them by actually coming to school.
Melina, Co-Host (12:11)
How have you changed since the tragedy?
Adriana, Student (12:14)
I feel like now I can't let my guard down. Like I just feel as if I walk into school and now they have like all the door doors locked. I walk into school and I just feel like I shouldn't be there. I feel like something, anything could happen at any moment. And it's just, I don't feel safe.
Melina, Co-Host (12:33)
Do you feel like you, so you mentioned, doors being locked. There are two officers on campus. What other resources are being used to keep students safe?
Noeh, Student (12:44)
I would say that's kind of mainly the only two things that I can really think of. We have the officers and a lot of the doors have been locked, but I still feel like that's not really enough for it quite yet. I don't know else they could possibly do, but I personally think that's not enough.
Adriana, Student (13:02)
I agree. It's not enough, but I honestly don't know what else they could do. If you think about it, locking the doors, having the police officers, anybody can work around that. I honestly don't think it's enough, but I think they're doing the best that they can.
Melina, Co-Host (13:22)
What kind of mental health resources or social and emotional learning resources are available on campus to help students who might be struggling with thoughts of violence or thoughts of aggression towards other students? And maybe even to help students cope with tragedies like this, what kind of mental health and social-emotional resources are available to you?
Noeh, Student (13:46)
I would say of course your friends at school. If you have a close friend, but I would say the counselor. I have a pretty close relationship with my counselor and that I can honestly talk to her about anything and she would be there for me through anything. So I think, not that I know of, that's probably our only thing is our counselor.
Adriana, Student (14:05)
I do [agree with] the counselors. Yes, they are there for you. But if you don't have a close relationship with your counselor... I'm not too close to my counselor. I can't really go up to her and just like have a conversation and tell her that I'm feeling bad or anything. I don't think that I could speak to her.
I do have like other teachers that I'm closer to, that I could talk to. I just think that as long as you have somebody you're close to, you could talk to them and they could always help you out and talk to somebody else if you need them. You need somebody there for you.
Melina, Co-Host (14:40)
What are your teachers and your parents telling you about this tragedy and about school safety?
Noeh, Student (14:51)
I would say it's pretty tough because they can't really do anything. At this point, it's kind of like, “I love you. Get to school” kind of thing now, and that you just kind of praying that it won't happen and stuff like that.
Adriana, Student (15:06)
My dad, he's always on the lookout for us. Him with his four daughters, of course, he's going to be the helicopter dad. If we ever feel uncomfortable, he'll tell us to call him and he'll leave everything he's doing. He'll come to pick us up. My parents are always there for me. They understand what's going on and they know that, as teenagers in high school, we can never be too sure what's going to happen next. So they're always there for me. And they always know if I'm feeling bad,
Melina, Co-Host (15:42)
Noeh, you said that there's not really a lot that adults can do. And you also said that adults need to take students' perspectives more seriously.
Do you think that if they did take your perspectives more seriously, they would find the motivation or the courage to, maybe motivation is the wrong word, but the courage to do more? Because I know that your superintendent, Dr. Perez, is involved in the Texas School Safety Center. She gathered a town hall meeting with some state legislatures.
I guess my question really is what needs to change for this to never happen again?
Noeh, Student (16:25)
I know that when they look at, in our perspective, of course, the teachers and all the school board members and the faculty that yes, they have families to get to when they get home and stuff like that. So, I could kind of see the perspective of where they're at too.
But I think the way that needs to change is they need to find a better solution to prevent this in some way, shape or form. I know it's hard to really do that. There's only so much you can do to prevent it, but I think there just needs to be a solution for it.
Melina, Co-Host (16:58)
How do you hold on to hope during a time like this?
Adriana, Student (17:02)
To hold onto hope is – it's a lot at the moment. All you can do is hope. You hope nothing happens to your school. You hope nothing happens to your family. You hope all you can do is that you can't, you can't really, there's nothing really to do?
You can't do too much in a situation like this. Like the only thing you say is, “Oh, we could have prevented it from happening” after you've done all the research, you look through all the posts, all everything, you could only say, “Oh, we could have prevented it”, but it's already too late. I just think that if we took things more serious, like we've been saying, then this wouldn't be as big of a problem as it already is.
Melina, Co-Host (17:40)
So my last question for y'all, and I know this is tough, so thank you for sitting through this with me and talking it out. What would it look like for adults to take it seriously?
Noeh, Student (17:53)
I would say to take it seriously, a lot more desperate measures had to be taken. But when you think about school or when you're, when I was younger, for sure thinking about high school, you're thinking about the best times you could possibly have in your life.
A lot of people think about it now, older people, they say “High school is the best time. Don't take it for granted” But with the way it's going, and if they keep on putting more security stuff in there, at some point, it's going to feel like they're kind of in a prison more than at school, which it's sad to think about that.
Melina, Co-Host (18:33)
That's hard.
Thank y'all so much for spending your time with me. I know that this was a challenging topic and might have been difficult for y'all to speak through it. But you're so strong and I'm really grateful that we had this time to talk. I'm wishing all the best.
Please reach out if there's anything else you want to talk about on this podcast. Like I said, we're all about amplifying teen voices and if you have more to share, we always want to listen, so thank you again.
(CLOSING MUSIC)
SEASON 2, EPISODE 8 CLOSING (19:13)
That's all for this episode with Adriana and Noah. If you haven't listened to the previous episode with Superintendent Dr. Cissy Reynolds-Perez, be sure to check that one out. And join us again in two weeks for another informative interview about mental health topics you've told us you're interested in.
Thanks again for listening to All Teens Considered.