Don't Pray For Me | Teen Ink

Don't Pray For Me MAG

February 16, 2018
By HELong SILVER, Providence, Rhode Island
HELong SILVER, Providence, Rhode Island
5 articles 0 photos 0 comments

To those on Capitol Hill:
You prayed for Columbine. Your heart broke for Sandy Hook. Your condolences went out after Umpqua Community College. And here we are again. This cycle will not end until you act.
I am tired of seeing it in the news, tired of hearing you say how sorry you are, tired of the empty prayers, tired of the aching, tired of the fear, tired of the sorrow, tired of wondering if the next time it happens I will be the one whose bright future is cut short.
If so, I don’t want to be memorialized in a vigil with a halo dangling above my name and strangers gushing about how terrible it is that I’m gone. The victims? You can bet they didn’t want that either.
Don’t give me your prayers and your broken heart and your condolences. I am sick of it, so sick that my stomach churns and my face twists with disgust. I don’t want you to hope that everything turns out okay for me, don’t want you to talk about how it should never happen to anyone, don’t want you to cross your fingers for me. I want to survive, and nothing that you have done so far will stop a gunman from walking into my school and ending my life.
I don’t fear a terrorist attack from a man with darker skin than mine when I get on a plane or go visit a crowded tourist attraction. I fear a terrorist attack while I sit in my Spanish class, an attack perpetrated by a kid who looks just like me but with an AR-15 cradled in his arms.
As long as your only response to these tragedies is sending condolences, prayers, and empty wishes, I could be the next victim. And if that happens, don’t you dare pray for me or claim that your heart is broken. Because you could have done something to stop it and you didn’t. 


The author's comments:

I don't care what your political views are. 17 people died yesterday. That is 17 too many, and if you can't see that, then you need to think a little harder about what it means to live here.


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This article has 2 comments.


Brigid GOLD said...
on May. 24 2018 at 10:04 am
Brigid GOLD, White River Junction, Vermont
11 articles 4 photos 89 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars.&quot; <br /> -Oscar Wilde

Wow. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful piece. It is simple and yet very powerful. This is such an important issue, and you framed it very well.

Healthy GM said...
on Apr. 13 2018 at 1:10 pm
Very proud of my granddaughter's sentiments and writing style. Reads well and gets her point across forcefully.