Young Voices

Writing has been used since ancient times to express the emotions and the realities of life we find hard to acknowledge. Experts say it helps heal trauma, strengthen resilience, and reduce anxiety by giving us a voice we often have trouble finding. In this era of uncertainty, pandemics and violence, where things seem so terribly out of control, sometimes writing is the only thing youth can do to make their voices heard – in poems, in prose, in song lyrics and in wrenching narratives we may not want to hear – but we need to hear.      

This profound piece of writing was created by a 14-year-old freshman in a regional high school in Northwest New Jersey who comes from a Catholic family living in the Diocese of Metuchen. Early in the new school year, she and her classmates were asked in English class to write an “I am from” poem. It was just a few days after the Georgia school shooting so she decided to focus her writing on what it’s like to be a student in the midst of so many school shootings and the difficulty of acting like everything is normal. She acknowledged she wrote this on behalf of students everywhere who are disturbed by “what they need to do to stay safe, if that’s even possible.”    
                                              ~ Mary Morrell, Editor-in-Chief


I AM FROM
By: Natalie T

I am from school lockdown drills,
From lights off, blinds down, 
At least once a month,
from part of the French class syllabus being what we use 
     to protect and defend ourselves against a shooter,
From being glad there is a fire extinguisher next to the science class door,
Because it’s perfect for hitting an intruder,
From hearing about the last shooting,
At the last school,
And then going to class the next day like everything is normal,
Like there isn’t a concentric circle of loss and tragedy closing in,
Nothing to be scared about, until the next one,
The next shooting,
At the next school.
 
I am from wondering which drill will stop being a drill,
Because in lockdowns we used to sit and fool around when we were little,
But now we wait for longer times, we ask if it’s practice,
We hope that it’s practice,
So we don’t end up on the news next. 
We take sometimes 30 minutes out of class,
To learn how to hide, to feel like we are being hunted,
We sit in a corner with the lights off,
Hearts beating loudly through the silence,
The teacher shushing everyone,
I am from a small-town high school,
From new jersey,
From the United States of America,
Where in the last year,
There have been over 35 school shootings.
I am from fear,
Fear of death,
Fear of being shot,
Fear of guns.
I am from America.
Sweet land of Liberty.