hat will it take to get lawmakers to sit up, pay attention and do something to address the gun epidemic that plagues our country?
Perhaps the voices of those most affected by these senseless shootings – teenagers – may do just that.
“How Gun Violence Affects My Life” is the topic of a writing contest being cosponsored by The Peace Center and CeaseFirePA.
Writers ages 13-18 are invited to submit essays of 800 words or less describing how firearm related violence has altered their perception of day-to-day life.
“We hope that hearing student voices might shed deeper insight into the full impact that fear of gun violence holds in shaping young people’s learning, both in and out of the classroom,” said Executive Director of the Peace Center Danny Thomas.
The deadline to submit an essay is Jan. 6. The first prize winner will receive $200 and be published in the Bucks County Courier Times and The Intelligencer; $100 will be awarded for second place; and, third place will receive $50.
Dec. 14 marked the 10 year anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting when a gunman shot and killed 26 people, 20 of them children ages 6-7. Since that fatal day in 2012, 22 additional shootings have taken the lives of at least 69 more children.
For 40 years the Peace Center, located in Langhorne, has been striving to educate and empower schools and families and to enrich communities with proven conflict resolution and social justice programs.
CeaseFirePA is dedicated to ending the epidemic of gun violence in Pennsylvania. The organization’s goal is that everyone in the Commonwealth should live in safe communities and that gun violence, in any form, makes that reality an impossibility.
