As a high school senior living in Alexandria, I've always tried to stay in the know about current events. I've never gone as far as to write a letter to anyone, but that ends today.
As you know, last Wednesday, Feb. 14, another fatal school shooting occurred in Parkland, Fla. I have become too familiar with news like this: I remember going out to lower the flag to half staff after the Virginia Tech shooting when I was in elementary school. This issue is getting closer to all of us and becoming less preventable at the same time. There was an armed officer at the school in Florida; there was a lock down procedure in place; the FBI was even tipped multiple times about the shooter.
We cannot go by the book anymore; this example has proven it doesn't do enough. What we must do is take at least a small step in the right direction and pass gun control legislation, something we haven't seen as children have been gunned down.
What you might not understand is that these events have a weight on all of us: every student has to wonder what they would do if this happened to them. Our generation's educational experience has changed forever because of the failure of the U.S. government to protect us. I want you to prove me wrong; I know you know the right thing to do here. The voices of survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are loud, because they echo the voices of millions of students, who, like me, have had enough.
Brendan Long
Alexandria