Dear Future President,

We, as Americans, have been normalized by many things throughout our lives. We have gotten used to automobiles, airplanes, space exploration, and even wars. But, one of the worst things that we have been normalized to is terrorism. Everyday on the television we see the deaths of thousands of innocent people dying because they have attacked by extremists who want to wipe us out. Whether it be domestic terrorists or international terrorists, it causes all of America to be on edge in fear for what’s to come.

When I was younger, I was visiting my father in Maryland for the summer. All over the news there were reports of car bombings throughout the area. At the time my family probably thought I was too young to understand what was happening but I knew exactly what was happening. I was so terrified that I would be walking down the street with my family and we would end up in a fiery explosion. No child deserves to ever feel that way. That year was 2006, and, according to the FBI terrorism report for that year, over 20,000 people died due to the 14,000 terrorist attacks. That was an increase of 25% more attacks than the year before. In 2015, there were 11,774 terrorist attacks which led to 28,328 people dying world wide. Terrorist attacks are becoming more elaborate allowing to kill more people with fewer attacks which is terrible news for everyone across the nation. Another instance an act of terrorism affecting my life is still currently going on. There was a man in my own hometown who was a domestic terrorist. This town of mine was extremely small and was always so quiet. We never expected that someone we knew would ever try to do something so rash. After hearing this, it proved to me that no matter where you live terrorism affects everyone.

A way we could stop these acts of terrorism is to raise the defenses in public areas to increase security to protect the innocent people of this country. We should install more surveillance cameras and hire more guards in order to ensure public safety. This would not only create jobs but would also stop many terrorist attacks. We would have to increase taxes on items to be able to pay for these government enforced security, but in the long run because this could save the lives of those who go out to the market everyday. People don't want to live in fear for their whole lives and this could make this so much safer. I don't want any more scared children like I was.

Sincerely,

A Worried Teen