![Standing center stage, senior Ananya Akula conducts the Phoenix Chorale. “[Conducting and teaching] is really fun,” Akula said. “Music education is what I want to do.” On the day of the choir assessment, Akula found out that she received the President’s Music Scholarship – a full ride to the University of Miami Frost School of Music.](https://theblazerrhs.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ananya-1200x800.jpg)
![With the energy and effort the Bolts were bringing to the game, the Phoenix had to step up and match them to make it through their first game of the season. Many of the girls on the team, including freshman Nazly Rostom, have been playing soccer since their childhood and have grown a love for the sport as a result. “It was fun to see how we actually played in a [real] game,” Rostom said. “Even though the outcome was not what we were hoping for, I’m still happy we got to play together.”](https://theblazerrhs.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DSC_0154-1200x800.jpg)
![Held up by a group of cheerleaders, flyer sophomore Leyu Yonas poses as part of a stunt, also supported by flyer junior Shayne Mitchell behind her. (Left) Prior to the pink out football game on Oct. 13, the athletes practiced in the aux gym from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (Right) On Oct. 19, the cheerleaders competed in their District Championships at Woodgrove High School. “We definitely put all our effort on the mat [at Districts], and it showed,” Mitchell said. Left: Photo by Nadia Shirr. Right: Photo by Steve Prakope via Victor O’Neill Studios.](https://theblazerrhs.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/feature-image-1200x823.png)
![Sophomore Xavier Smith (6), the Phoenix quarterback, runs the ball as his teammates help hold up the defense. “My [offensive] line collapses, so I just [have to run], and its a good way to get first downs because [Tuscarora’s] defense was really good,” Smith said.](https://theblazerrhs.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5383-1200x897.jpg)
![As the referee throws the ball up for the tip-off, freshman Simone Diby leaps towards the ball to get it in Phoenix possession. Diby is a new member of the Phoenix girls basketball team, and despite it being a change, she finds it enjoyable. “It’s definitely a different experience if you’ve never played on a team, [but] I think it’s still fun.”](https://theblazerrhs.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/DSC_0057-1200x662.jpg)
“The Fallout” highlights the Reality of School Shooting Trauma
HBO’s new movie “The Fallout” shows the terrifying impact that school shootings can have on students.
(Pictured from left to right) Mia, played by Maddie Ziegler, and Vada, played by Jenna Ortega, bond about the horrific experience they both witnessed even though they barely know each other.
April 7, 2022
The 2022 hit movie “The Fallout” expresses the devastating reality of school shootings. Vada Cavell, played by Jenna Ortega, seems like a normal day-to-day teenager. She’s shy and reserved, but loves her best friend Nick, played by Will Rodd. On a seemingly normal day, she gets to school late and heads to the bathroom where she meets the most popular girl in school, Mia Reed, played by Maddie Ziegler, but that’s everything turns sour. This new movie is designed to convey how painful and tragic these situations actually are by giving us insight on the reality of shootings and the way the characters deal with the aftermath; how these stories end up being on our TV one day and forgotten the next. It truly shows how oblivious the world can be to these real world problems.
Movies like “The Fallout” convey the dangerous reality about these situations, going further into the horrifying effects it leaves on kids and adults.
From making a trauma bond with the most popular girl in school, to mourning the loss of so many people, Ortega’s and Ziegler’s performance gives us the raw pain of school shootings and trauma. It seems like everything’s okay on the outside, while laughing and getting gas station snacks, but in reality the hidden feelings of suffering and being afraid to be alone or go to school is frightening.
By showing us the good, the bad, and the ugly, “The Fallout” demonstrates to their audience the reality of school shootings by highlighting terrible things it causes, like PTSD and panic attacks. According to the American Psychiatric Association, around 3.5% of adults in the U.S. are affected with PTSD. Just by showing how the girls have trouble going back to school and falling asleep while completing a simple task, it can help others feel less alone who have gone through traumatic experiences like school shootings.
The movie also promotes that the best way to overcome and deal with the trauma is time and therapy to get help. According to the CDC, more than 19% of Americans get therapy, showing that it’s ok to not be ok.
The movie shows the deep truth and not just what the media portrays. I deeply appreciate Megan Park for directing the movie and for showing us the untold truth of school shootings in America.
You can watch “The Fallout” on the streaming service HBO Max.
