It seemed to be an ordinary Friday night, but that Friday night was one that the whole world now mourns. That evening gunmen and suicide bombers attacked multiple locations in Paris, France, including cafes, restaurants, a sports stadium and a concert venue. Tragically, 130 people lost their lives along with many more who were injured.

   Not only was support shown from the citizens of France, but the rest of the world reached out to help Paris. Major landmarks around the world portrayed France’s flag on the buildings including the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia, the Empire State Building in New York City and our very own Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri.

    These were not the only form of support. French Club is selling t-shirts and donating a portion of the proceeds to the Red Cross.

   Social media also played a major role in spreading the news and prayers. #PrayforParis and the symbol of a peace sign with the Eiffel Tower inside the circle were two trending symbols shown.

   The French classes also created a memorial wall in the foreign language hall, in honor of the tragedy.

   “I offered each student a chance to create a show of support for the French to create a Wall of Peace,” French teacher Canda King said. “We looked at various trending social media and tributes that people had made and students created their own. I would love to invite anyone down to view the “Wall of Peace” that is in the 400’s Flex Space, and anyone is welcome to add to it about any of these unfortunate recent attacks that have been occurring in places worldwide.”

   The French teachers have a strong connection with Paris, which is why the tragedy hit them harder than most.

   “I was living and studying in France when the 9/11 attacks happened,” French teacher Jessica Lumetta said. “The French people were incredibly kind and supportive of me and other American students studying in France at the time. I love Paris and all of France for that matter.  It is hard to see such senseless violence anywhere in the world, but especially in a place where there is such joie de vivre.  These kinds of things simply didn’t happen when I was growing up.”

   King agreed.

   “I was really nervous to cancel our normal class and just have a discussion over something that is so frightening and emotional for me, as I have French friends and have been to Paris,” King said. “The students’ level of respect and compassion really impressed me and I am very proud with how they have handled it.”

   As many students heard the tragedy that happened, French classes, Current Events Club and French Club talked about the attacks in more detail.

   “We talked about how France is culturally most everything that the attackers hate; there are political freedoms and it is just a very free culture in general,” junior Jackson Ferguson said. “The culture of ISIS is very repressive and it would make sense to target such a free and liberated place as Paris, in a country like France.”

   Students also discussed reasons for the attack.

   “They [ISIS] want to attack life and culture and things that people enjoy, that’s why they attacked cafés and concert venues, rather than government buildings,” Senior Sadie Jess said. “They also want non-Muslims to turn against Muslims; that division of Islam verses. The world would do nothing but work in their favor and drive up their numbers. That’s why it’s so important not to turn against Islam right now.”

   The tragedy caused students to try to decipher how they believe the situations should be handled.

   “I think that if the United States were to get involved in a violent manner, there would be challenging repercussions,” junior Halle Hewitt said. “I don’t think that going to war is the best option because too many innocent lives will be lost, but I also think that a more peaceful route is best, even if it may be more difficult.”

   There was one decision the students came to a consensus on.

   “Difficult though it may be with different ideas for solutions, I think something we all agreed upon is that we shouldn’t stop letting immigrants in from Syria,” Ferguson said.

   As the discussion continued, there were also posed solutions and ideas to help put an end to these attackers.

   “I’m not sure I have the solution to ending terrorism, but I think the best approach for right now is to put up a united front, avoid being afraid and help support refugees and local forces, the Kurdish soldiers,” Jess said.

   The fear factor in this tragedy has started to become a reality.

   “A lot of people are afraid that the same thing that happened in Paris will happen here, and we’ve learned that ISIS is very capable of doing that and that incites a lot of fear in people,” Hewitt said.

   Most students believed that they should continue their everyday lives and not live in fear.

   “I think it’s very easy and very reasonable to be afraid, but we should avoid panicking because ISIS does what it does to make us afraid because they don’t have the resources or the manpower to rage a real war,” Jess said. “They rely on fear, so fear is what we should avoid.”

   People should not stop doing every day things due to fear.

   “You can’t stop living and traveling, you just have to be more aware of your surroundings and responsible for your personal safety,” Lumetta said. “If we stop traveling, going to concerts or sitting outside on a café terrace, we let the terrorists win and I don’t think any of us want that.”