Dear government, the lords of the land, the renovators of rules, the shackles to our speech. With your pristine ebony suits and your ties made out of the finest silks from the charred, frail hands of oppressed children in India... we are talking to you.

Dear government, you have forged an inconspicuous barrier between your ears and our lips- continually hindering us, the youth, the future entrepreneurs, the future doctors and astronauts from having a voice. Completely blockading our opinions of the laws you have made as if we're not the foundations and future of our country. As If we're not the future politicians who could be deciding your fate.

Dear government, do you remember February 14th 2018. Whilst you were spending the night with your lovers, 17 innocent, young souls were ripped from the ordination of time- callously assassinated under the safety and security of a school. Did you, my dear government , even ponder for a second what legalising gun violence would do for your youth, your people, your country? Emma Gonzalez, a survivor of the brutal attack, stood in front of and led millions of people across the world to March For Our Lives. During her speech, she didn't spread negativity or oppression but hope and power whilst the world saw silent tears run down her face for her lost classmates but her jaw set in defiance- defiance against your laws, your ignorance, your blindness.

Dear government, to the adolescents all around the world, to the uneducated girl who was forced to marry at the age of 9, to the boy who's supposed to learn trigonometry but is working in the cruellest factories 16 hours a day, to the terminally ill child whose life depends on a single beep. The power of the powerless. The voice of the voiceless. This is for you. And to our dear, dear government. the overlords, the kings... we are talking to you.

By Shamima Islam, William Perkin CofE High School