As the three-year anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting approaches on Feb. 14, one SUNY Oswego faculty member is reflecting on how the tragedy has shaped her lectures.
A long-time Parkland, Florida, resident, criminology professor Dr. Jaclyn Schildkraut first moved to the area when she was 6 and lived there until she went to college.
Not only did Schildkraut reside during much of her childhood in the Parkland area, but she attended college in Orlando, Florida, where the Pulse nightclub shooting unfolded in 2016.
“Three years later, it is still overwhelming to me that something I have known virtually my entire life became so unrecognizable to me in under six minutes, how long the shooting lasted,” Schildkraut said. “Everything still looks the same, for the most part, but it doesn’t feel the same. Home will never be home again the way it was and that is probably the most significant thing for me.”
While Schildkraut acknowledges she cannot take away what happened, she said she can still work to help ensure other communities do not share a similar fate while honoring those who are no longer a part of her community.
Schildkraut said, from a criminology perspective, the biggest challenge she has found is the natural inclination of the media and the public to focus on the shooter.
“There is always this fascination with who did it and why, often in hopes of profiling and stopping the next shooting. But that isn’t realistic,” Schildkraut said. “For me and many in my community, the shooter isn’t who is important. Who is important are Alyssa, Scott, Martin, Nick, Aaron, Jaime, Chris, Luke, Cara, Gina, Joaquin, Alaina, Meadow, Helena, Alex, Carmen and Peter. That is who we focus on rather than giving attention or notoriety to the person that took them away.”
Following the tragedy, Schildkraut said she has managed to keep in touch with some of the victims’ families.
During this time, Schildkraut, who is the national expert on mass shootings, has been in regular contact with Max Schachter, whose son Alex was killed, and has helped him launch his new school safety data portal. She is involved in other projects with Parkland simultaneously.
“At present, most of my work is focused on lockdown drills, which will help keep students safe,” Schildkraut said. “Broadly, this work honors MSD, which didn’t have emergency response protocols on the day of the shooting.”
Through her various contributions, Schildkraut has been able to connect with Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was killed, as well as Debbi Hixon, Chris Hixon’s wife, and Nick Dworet’s family.
“All have been amazing to get to know and so kind to share their experiences with me in some shape or form,” Schildkraut said.
Among Schildkraut’s latest contributions to the Parkland community are her yearly “Cards for Kids” campaigns, a project she has carried out every holiday season since 2017 in an effort to give back to families impacted by mass shootings.
“All 17 families received cards,” Schildkraut said. “There were two children who lost their parents, 21 children who lost their siblings, and then two families that received cards–the Beigel and the Duque families.”
Since first launching her campaign, Schildkraut has collected just over 30,000 cards, she said.
In an effort to spread awareness of these events, Schildkraut has one piece of encouragement for anyone in Oswego.
“I would say pick one victim, any of them as they were all amazing humans, and just get to know who they were,” Schildkraut said. “Honor them by doing something in their name; it doesn’t have to cost money. The effort goes a long way and helps to preserve their legacies.”
Photo provided by Jaclyn Schildkraut
