There are some memories that are permanently engrained in our minds, I know that one I will never forget is Parkland, Florida shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School. I vividly remember one year ago on Valentine’s Day a bomb threat was placed on my school, we were rushed out of my school and told to walk go the gym at a nearby college. I remember the immediate fear I felt when hearing about the threat, fortunately the kid that made the threat did not actually plant bombs throughout the school. All of the students were bussed home as soon as they discovered the threat was nothing more than a threat. On that silent bus ride our phones all received notifications from numerous news sources regarding the Parkland incident. A thousand things went through my mind, that could have easily been my school all over the news. I was disgusted, horrified and disappointed in humanity. The only thing on television all day was this event and talking about past school shootings.
Events similar in nature these are so significant and change our world views. The shock and horror we feel as they unfold before our eyes is so significant that our minds permanently engrain them. I believe the strong emotions, historical significance, along with the personal connection we make causes these events to become impossible to forget. Some memories aren’t kept as vividly, as the result of the brain being unable to store all the events that occur in our lives. The most significant and important are stored and the ones that are not important are forgotten.
Maddy- This was a very strong and understandable blog post! I agree that the more significant the event is, the longer the memory lingers. I feel it is also true that some memories are permanent, and that you most likely will never forget that day at school, nor will our generation of the current mass shootings and bomb threats be forgotten when our children and grandchildren are learning about our history. On top of this, social media help memories like the ones you mentioned in your post last longer because the images, videos, and comments remain active and easily accessible. The only thing I would add to your post is your opinion on a way to track the strength of our memories. Your post was extremely well written, and certainly conveys how memories can form around the current global issues of today, and how they have an impact on us personally and possibly even our mental health as well.
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