Heroes Were Made on December 14th, 2012

Twelve students squeeze in a small bathroom. Holding their breath, quietly crying, and praying to God, the children fear for their lives. She could hear her heart beat pounding inside her head. Familiar faces pop into her mind. Her parents, her siblings, her friends, her new puppy dog. Would she see be able to spend Christmas with them, or would they spend Christmas in mourning at her funeral service? These were some of the questions that the teachers asked themselves about their students as Adam Lanza broke through Sandy Hook Elementary and started shooting at whoever was in his way. Even though many lives were lost that day, many heroes were made known to the world.
Many teachers tried to protect their students as if they were their own children. No one truly knows what to do in this type of situation, until you are actually in it yourself. But imagine hearing shots coming from around the corner and looking at the scared faces of your students. What are you going to do? Where will you hide them? Will they make it out if you don’t? When the teachers and teacher aids of Sandy Hook Elementary faced this reality, they thought of the children before they thought of themselves. We, as a society, must all be thankful for these people and all the heroes in this world.
Adam Lanza, Casey Anthony, Joran Van Der Sloot. These are names that are known worldwide. These names will go down in history as murderers. But what about the names of those who tried to help? Why must society only focus on the criminals and not of the good Samaritans? This is a concept that I will never comprehend. As these murderers are the “hot topic” of media, new criminals see the publicity they can get from committing a crime. It seems that newscasters talk about the crime first, then the criminals, then the victims, and finally, the heroes. I believe that the heroes should not be heard about after two or three days after the crime is committed.
Whether this man was “mentally ill” or just wanted to take revenge on someone at Sandy Hook Elementary, what he did was wrong. One man took twenty-seven lives. Twenty seven. Although much mourning and hatred came out of this tragedy, heroes were made known to the world. Heroes are made everyday. Whether it is saving children from a mentally ill man, or whether it is saving a cat from a tree, these are our true heroes. Society should not put the spotlight on the people have take away lives, but rather on the people who try to save lives. People like the teachers of Sandy Hook show the world that goodness can come out of a devastating situation.