As he prepared to write a eulogy for his 14-year-old son Alex’s funeral, Max Schachter found strength in a crumpled-up piece of paper the teen had discarded in the trash. “Life is like a roller coaster/ It has some ups and downs/ Sometimes you can take it slow or very fast/ It may be hard to breathe at times/ But you have to push yourself and keep going,” Alex wrote in his poem Life is Like a Rollercoaster. The powerful words became a precious keepsake of Alex’s wisdom beyond his years after he was fatally shot during class at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on 14 February 2018. For years, the poem was a recurrent source of solace for the Schachter family; it was read by Mr Schachter as he addressed members of government early on in the tragedy, it helped the Schachters navigate never-ending waves of grief as time passed and it was also read last year by Alex’s older brother Ryan during his victim impact statement as a jury prepared to sentence Alex’s killer. Five years after the shooting that claimed 17 lives, staff hired by the school district found the final draft that Alex had turned in to his English teacher. They also found the lunchbox his parents packed for him every day and the binder with his schoolwork, but his backpack was placed inside a box labelled “biohazard” that Mr Schachter hasn’t opened yet. “[They] said, ‘I want to just tell you something ... there was a bullet that went through the poem, and I was just trying to process that this is just really painful,” Mr Schachter recounted to The Independent. “They had his belongings ... and then they gave it to me in a box with tape all around it and I asked, ‘What’s with all of this?’ They said it was because either it had a bullet shot through or there was blood on it. I took it home with every intention of opening it, but it’s hard.” “Looking at this journey that I’m on along with the other sixteen families – it’s just brutal. It never ends.” In the aftermath of the school shooting, the hard decisions have continued to pour in. Families of the Parkland shooting victims have been given the option to tour the preserved crime scene where Nicholas Cruz, a former student at the school, ambushed classrooms and indiscriminately shot at more than 34 people. The building was preserved as evidence for Cruz’s penalty trial last year. After the prosecution rested its case in August 2022, jurors retraced the path of violence. The state hoped that seeing the crime scene in person would convince them that Cruz deserved the death penalty, but jurors couldn’t unanimously agree. Cruz was ultimately sentenced to life in prison in November. “I wanted to walk through that building, [for it] to help me crystallise what had happened,” Mr Schachter said. “I wanted to understand what happened to Alex and I wanted to sit in that chair. I wanted to take that chair home with me, that was the chair that Alex took his last breath in.” Inside Alex’s classroom, Mr Schachter found what he described as a “war zone” – the harrowing evidence of the horrors that his son and his classmates endured. And with everything surrounding the carnage, the details continue to be as horrific all these years later as they were on that tragic day. “As I got there, I realised how he killed everyone and was so brutal and what he did to Alex,” Mr Schachter told The Independent. “There was blood all over Alex’s seat and all over the floor and his paperwork had blood on it.” There were also subtle hints of the sudden way in which hundreds of lives were changed that Valentine’s Day. The scattered textbooks, boards with lesson plans that were never taught, Valentine’s cards that were never delivered to their recipients and deflated balloons have become a painful reminder of the passage of time. Mr Schachter wasn’t trying to find closure when he walked inside the building where his son was murdered. But he was hoping to feel closer to Alex. However, the decision to open a box that may contain more fuel for nightmares is one he is not ready to make just yet. “I’m understanding that there might be more harm than good. There might be more negatives than positives from opening that box,” he said. “I haven’t made a decision on the box, but I am cognisant of the fact that it’s going to be very painful and I’m not sure if I’m ready for that.” Mr Schachter has turned his pain into purpose through his nonprofit Safe Schools for Alex, which assists parents, students and school districts with resources to make schools safer. It provides training in threat assessments and school safety best practices. The charity is currently fundraising money in honour of what would have been Alex’s 20th birthday on 9 July. Mr Schachter was also part of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, which investigated failures before and after the shooting and then presented recommendations. “I travel around the country and I speak with law enforcement organisations, with school districts about what happened in Parkland,” Mr Schachter said. “I talk about the failures. I talk about what Florida’s done post-Parkland.” Under the Trump administration, a bill named after Alex and his friend Luke Hoyer, who also died in the Parkland shooting, led to the creation of SchoolSafety.gov, a federal website that compiles tools and actionable recommendations to create safer environments in K-12 schools, including resources for bullying as well as active shooting drills. The website was incorporated into President Biden’s Bipartisan Safer Communities Act last year. “The reason I do what I do is because there’s so much complacency. [No one] thinks it’s going to happen to them, so that’s why I go around the country and I tell Alex’s story and I show pictures and videos of him playing the trombone and the baritone because I never thought it would happen in Parkland,” Mr Schachter told The Independent. “I moved to Parkland because it was ranked the safest city in Florida right before the shooting, but it can happen everywhere.” The victims wounded in the Parkland shooting and their loved ones will also be able to visit the 1200 building at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, now that it is no longer needed as evidence in the trials of the convicted killer and a deputy who was acquitted last month of failing to stop him. The school district plans to demolish the three-story building, likely replacing it with a memorial. Read More Seven murders by cyanide-laced Tylenol will never be solved. But the prime suspect’s death brings justice The Zodiac Killer claimed responsibility for 37 murders. 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LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 30, 2023--

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More than half of broadband customers have experienced problems with their connection over the past year, despite providers inflicting inflation-busting price hikes, a survey suggests. The latest “broadband satisfaction survey” by Which? found that 53% of the nearly 4,000 broadband customers polled had experienced connection issues in the year to January, most commonly frequent connection dropouts, “very” slow speeds and slow uploads and downloads. The issues were “persistent” across all the providers, with narrow margins between the best and worst offenders for poor customer experiences. It's completely unacceptable that customers who have faced these eye-watering increases are also experiencing so many problems with their connection Which? The watchdog noted that the scale of problems added “insult to injury” as many customers saw their bills jump by more than 14% after many providers chose to impose inflation-based price increases earlier this year. Providers often link their annual price rises to January’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) or the Retail Price Index (RPI), which were 10.5% and 13.4% respectively – an amount which would have been unforeseeable for customers signing up to their contract 18 or 24 months previously. The current system forces millions of customers to choose between paying more each month or exorbitant exit fees, which can exceed £200. Industry watchdog Ofcom is currently investigating whether inflation-linked, mid-contract price rises give customers sufficient certainty and clarity when signing up to new contracts. Of the UK’s biggest providers, Sky, Virgin Media, and EE had the lowest proportion of customers who had not experienced any issues, with just 32%, 35% and 37% of their customers not reporting any problems. Of the major providers, BT fared best with 49% of its customers not experiencing a performance issue in the past year. Hyperoptic, Shell Energy Broadband and Utility Warehouse performed better, with half or more of their customers not experiencing any performance issue over the 12 months. However, even with these providers, at least four in 10 customers said they had experienced at least one problem. Frequent connection drop outs were the most common broadband issue, experienced by 19% of those who had suffered a problem. Some 17% suffered slow speeds, while 15% experienced slow uploads and downloads. One in seven (14%) said they had been left without a connection for at least an hour. One in 10 (12%) experienced slow or disrupted streaming when listening to music or watching videos and 8% said they were left without connection for more than a day. Overall, around four in 10 (44%) said they had experienced some kind of customer service issue and 11% said they had either found it difficult to get in touch with their provider or struggled to get their issue resolved. It’s absolutely critical that Ofcom’s review of inflation linked mid-contract hikes results in changes that ensure customers are never trapped in this situation again Rocio Concha, Which? Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy, said: “A reliable connection is essential to modern life. Earlier this year, many broadband consumers were hit with mid-contract price hikes of more than 14% – meaning that it’s more important than ever that their provider offers a reliable connection and good customer service. “It’s completely unacceptable that customers who have faced these eye-watering increases are also experiencing so many problems with their connection. Broadband firms need to work harder to resolve these issues and offer a better service. “While some customers are able to switch away to better service and prices, many are trapped in contracts where they either have to accept above inflation price hikes in the spring or pay exorbitant exit fees to leave the contract early. “It’s absolutely critical that Ofcom’s review of inflation linked mid-contract hikes results in changes that ensure customers are never trapped in this situation again.” A Sky spokeswoman said: “We are committed to providing the best service to our customers. “We do not believe this is a representative survey – Ofcom’s quarterly complaints data shows we are consistently one of the least complained about broadband providers and, in Ofcom’s latest report, we received the fewest complaints out of all broadband providers.” A Virgin Media spokesman said: “While these findings are only taken from a small sample of customers, the latest, fuller data from Ofcom shows that our customers benefit from the fastest download speeds, and customer complaints on our broadband services fell by 22% in the first quarter of this year.” EE said: “Ofcom’s latest complaints report shows that we remain one of the least complained about broadband providers, with complaints remaining well below the industry average throughout recent years. “We have proudly led the way with social tariffs since 2008, with around 80% of the total market being supported on BT social tariffs. “Customers who are struggling financially and are eligible for our social tariffs can move penalty-free at any point in their contract, this also includes EE and Plusnet customers. “ Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Will.i.am hails AI technology as ‘new renaissance’ in music Heart transplant woman’s daughter twice saved her life using Alexa Dolly Parton on AI and not wanting to leave her soul ‘here on earth’

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