The kids marching today should not have been there.

They should have been playing sports or hanging with friends not meeting with thousands of other kids to protest gun violence. They should have been washing cars to get ready for tonight’s date not remembering when they had to wash the blood of their classmates and friends from their own bodies and clothing. They should be in their towns, picking dresses and renting tuxedos for prom not avoiding looking into their closets because that’s where the clothing they wore to the funerals is hung. They should be cycling, hiking, and camping, not remembering where to run or hide because of an active shooter alert. These kids should be enjoying life thinking of and planning for their futures not worrying if they have a future. Their childhood has been yanked away from them. No matter what they do in the future, their lives are forever changed. For the rest of their lives they will remember the smells, sounds, cries, and gore that a weapon of war inflicts. They should be home being kids not marching to beg their elected, so called, leaders to protect them from being slaughtered by weapons of war.