If you see a kid on a playground beating everyone with a stick do you resolve the problem by giving every kid a stick?
The stick has caused pain and fear and loss
The stick is not safe
I do not want to go to school
I don't enjoy school
But if I must endure it
I want to feel safe
I want to be certain that I can escape at the end of the day and return home
I don't want my teacher to have the power to kill
To have the authority to use the stick when they feel it's right
To hold my life in their hands
To hold death in their hands
I don't want to live in a world full of armed citizens
As if we all must live in fear
As if we must depend on the stick
As if every second of our lives are life or death
As if everyone is a potential threat
As if our nation is a war zone
As if we aren't the land of the free
But the land of the armed and feared
I don't need a stick to keep me safe
You don't need a stick to keep me safe
No one will ever be safe
Everyone is capable of being a threat
But I want to feel safe
Everyone armed with a stick at their waist
In their purse
In their cars
In their hands
Is a constant reminder that I have something to fear
A reason to defend myself
That everyone around me could be the potential end of me
One, two
I'm coming for you
Three, four
shut the door
Five, six
Pick up the sticks
Seven, eight
No one is safe