Children

We are children.

We live.

We breathe.

We cry.

Yesterday, I wept. I wept. I wept for my nation, this nation, this beautiful country I am a part of. Suddenly, this country doesn't seem so beautiful anymore. If you look close enough, you can see it. You can see that the red that looks as beautiful as our roses isn't beautiful. It's horrible. It is the blood. It is the blood of my brothers and sisters and friends and family, the blood of the children of America. On Wednesday, March 14th, 2018, students, all of us, all around the country walked out of classrooms they no longer feel safe in. After walking off streets they no longer feel safe on. After walking out of neighborhoods they no longer feel safe in. I understand, that in Dublin, these bullets did not hit us directly. These bullets did not pierce our skin. These bullets did pierce our soul. Simply because we are safe does not mean that students around our very own country are. Us students, on that day, demanded that a comprehensive and effective bill be immediately be brought before Congress to address various gun issues. We had been told we didn't know anything on this topic. We had been told that what we were doing wouldn't make a difference. But what we did know? In 14 years, since March 2004, there have been, approximately, ROUNDED DOWN, 195 school shootings. That is 235 people dead. Because of gun violence. As many have pointed out, guns are not the only factor of these shootings. But they are a huge one. A child, a person, a human being, should not be able to legally by a weapon that can shoot 600 rounds per minute, claiming they need that to defend themselves. No one needs a weapon of mass destruction to defend themselves. We are not saying you should not be able to own a gun. The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution gives you your right to own a gun. But we are using our first amendment rights to control our second amendment ones. In the words of Emma Gonzales, "If you don't do anything from preventing these tragedies from continuing to occur, the number of gunshot victims will go up, and the number we are worth to you will go down. We will become worthless to you."

Dear Congress, Dear Representatives,

I speak to you now. You work for the people. You work for US. You were elected because we believe you will do everything in your power to make our voices heard. Quit playing the puppets of the NRA who take their support away from you the minute you take steps towards change. I am sick and I am tired of watching my brothers and sisters bleed onto grounds they were told they would be safe on. For our generation, school shootings have become weeds planted in our brains. We can't take them out. We can't change the past. But we can stop them from growing. I want to live in a country where my heart doesn't drop every time we have a lockdown drill. I want to live in a country where my education time isn't taken away for these excessive drills. At the same time, I do not want to live in a country where our schools are turned into prisons. I want to be able to have freedom, and be ALIVE to experience it. For my children, from yours. Save us.

We have the power to vote you out if you choose not to honor our choices.

To my beautiful readers,

You have the power to call for change. Every step on a staircase leads you to the top. Every step is a step towards change. March with us students calling for the bleeding to stop, and for the healing to start. https://marchforourlives.com/ Sign the petition, REGISTER TO VOTE, and RSVP if possible to a march.

I ask all of you: Will you be shunned into the silence that victims of shootings are now a forever part of?

I will not. I demand that this happen Never Again.

I would love to live in a country where my childhood is not scrolling over a death toll and feeling absolutely nothing.