How Teens are Dealing with the Capital Coup
Young People are Desperate for Lawmakers to Learn a Lesson About Gun Control Following the Capitol Coup
"They are not immune to this epidemic, this gun violence, and they have the power to do something about it."
This article first appeared in Seventeen magazine on January 20th, 2021. The direct link can be found here: https://www.seventeen.com/life/a35219117/young-people-capitol-coup-tiktok-gun-control-active-shooter-drills/
Two weeks ago, the nation watched as insurrectionists stormed the Capitol, quickly turning the center of America's democracy into a war ground. Many were shocked and disgusted as photos from the attack appeared on their televisions and newsfeeds, but the youth of America faced a different emotion, they related to the lawmakers and staffers who found themselves helpless and under attack.
When the men and women breached the Capitol on January 6th, the leaders of Congress were pulled from the house floor, where they were in the process of ratifying November's presidential election results. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, specifically, was taken from her podium by Capitol Police and moved to a safe location. Her staff, meanwhile, sought refuge in the Speaker's suite of offices. Pelosi told CBS News that the staffers piled into a room where they barricaded the door, turned off the lights, and hid under the table for two and a half hours as the insurrectionists trashed the Speaker's office. But how did the young staffers know exactly how to handle an active shooter situation? They grew up in the American school system.
Ever since the shooting at Columbine High School in 1999, schools around the country have been running drills to prepare their students for the possibility of an active shooter. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, between 2005 and 2006, 40% of schools ran these drills. By 2016, that number increased to 95 percent.
"In the Fairfax County Public School system, we had a lockdown drill every year where we were taught to turn off the lights, block all the windows, not open the door for any reason, and to stay away from the windows," said Kate*, a 23-year-old Pelosi staffer who was present on the day of the coup. Kate later attended Virginia Tech, where she said the entire student body was prepped during orientation on how to deal with an active shooter situation. This knowledge was put to use on January 6th. "Once we were settled in the dark, what was running through my mind was to be ready to run and fight," she said. "Thank goodness that didn’t have to happen."
The connection between what occurred in the Capitol and what happens in schools across the country wasn't only obvious to those who were present on the day of the coup. Young people watching the events take place couldn't help but notice, not only the parallels, but also the irony of lawmakers facing this situation.
"Our entire lives, we've been asking, 'What's next?'" said Shannon Kennedy aka Nonnah, a 23-year-old from Connecticut. Nonnah was two when Columbine occurred, so she grew up practicing active shooter drills in school. Being from Connecticut also means her school went into lockdown on December 14, 2012, when a 20-year-old man killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut. "We've faced school shootings, we've dealt with bomb threats. What's going to get us now? It could be anything, and these [lawmakers] are part of the reason why we're in this situation."
It's a harsh sentiment, but for years young people have been rallying together to push for better gun laws in the wake of school shootings. And for years, Republican leaders in the House of Representatives and the Senate have done nothing.
"All they say is 'thoughts and prayers' after a mass shooting," Nonnah said. "These people lost their kids, what are 'thoughts and prayers' going to do?"
So, after watching the news on January 6th, Nonnah turned to TikTok, where she boasts over 40,000 followers. "Someone tell the U.S. Congress to just 'hide under their desks' during the lockdown like they made high schoolers do during school shootings," she wrote on a video of her lip syncing a line from Nicki Minaj's song, "Barbie Goin Bad."
Nonnah is not the only person who used TikTok to express their frustrations following the events at the Capitol. Kennie Tatis, who is used to getting political for his 951,000 followers on the app, put on his nicest suit and got to recording after spending the day watching the news with his family.
Kennie's video is highly satirical and acts as almost a public service announcement to lawmakers, telling them what to do if they ever find themselves in another active shooter situation. His "tips" include barricading the doors, turning off the lights, staying quiet, and playing dead. He ends the video by signing off, "sincerely, every member of the American student body."
"I wanted it to put the Senators in my shoes. In the shoes of the American student body, the teachers, everyone," Kennie said when asked about his reason for making the video. "The senators have never been in a situation like this. It's a foreign concept to them."
Kennie's video did get some backlash online, with some viewers calling it tone deaf and inappropriate given the events that had just occurred. Kennie notes that it was the "older audiences" on Facebook and Twitter that didn't seem to understand his reasoning for making the video. On TikTok, which has a markedly younger audience, though, the response was mostly positive.
It's common for those who have dealt with tragedy to turn to jokes or satire as a coping mechanism and Dr. Minerva Guerrero, Ph.D., LMHC, admitted that humor can definitely be used to help people recover from trauma.
"I tend to think that if you are able to laugh or poke a little fun at yourself or something that you're experiencing, you're able to do so because you've stepped back from the experience at least a little bit and are not currently consumed by it," she explained. "You now can observe this as something that has happened to you, not something that consumes you."
At 23, Nonnah, like many others her age, has experienced 9/11, the 2008 economic crash, and of course, the current pandemic, just to name a few life-changing events and she has used humor to get her through it all. "We've been surrounded by trauma," she said. "In the words of Wendy Williams, 'If we don't laugh, we will cry.' What else is there to do but make a joke?"
In fact, Nonnah feels like the only time she's heard is when she's using humor. "We've protested, we've begged, we've asked for change, we've gotten petitions," she said. "When we're screaming for help with global crises, global warming, and school shootings, everyone's like, 'I'm sorry, what was that? I didn't hear you.' When we make jokes, they pay attention."
Of course, that "attention" may just consist of a Facebook post criticizing these young people for their "tone deaf behavior," but hey, it is something. Because the youth aren't just making these videos because they think they're funny, and they're not just making these videos to cope, they actually do want to enact real change. It just so happens the platform they hold is on a short-form video app.
"I hope that what happened in the Capitol will change something and will show these senators that gun violence is an actual problem and it affects everyone," Kennie said. "They are not immune to this epidemic, this gun violence, and they have the power to do something about it."
*The Pelosi staffer wished to remain anonymous. The name Kate has been given to her simply for the purposes of clarity.