Gen Z is tired of ‘thoughts and prayers.’ Pass the Protect Illinois Communities Act

A young person holds a sign that says, “Protect kids, not guns” during a March for Our Lives rally at Federal Plaza in the Loop on June 11, 2022. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)

I was 7 years old when I completed my first mass shooting drill. I cowered behind a desk in my darkened classroom, willing my teeth to stop chattering. I heard “BANG BANG BANG” as a school police officer pounded on the classroom door and jiggled the door handle, trying to get into our classroom.

My legs shook and my heart beat so loudly I felt the vibrations through my body. I knew it was fake, but the trauma of that shooting drill was real. Over the course of my schooling in Illinois public schools, I completed more active shooter drills than fire drills, while gun violence increased year after year.