It is difficult to ignore the terror of the recent attacks in Paris. As young teens, many of us think about our potential future as America is asked to delve deeper into war alongside France. Most of Glacier Peak students were far too young to remember and react to 9/11, however the focus of increasing terrorism has dominated the news throughout our lifetime.

The most recent terror has been a topic in senior government classes and expanded the scope of our thinking, furthering discussions and aiding in the development of strong opinions. Today, our generation naturally turns to social media in the act of mourning often with opinions inevitably set free. Although some sit in silence, some send off condolences and others start to point fingers.

One particular observation is the growing prejudice against the Islam religion. “Muslims this,” “Muslims that,” “they are all potential terrorists” some say. The question many are asking, including Muslims in our school population are asking, “What did we do?” It seems our society takes a step forward in eliminating discrimination but in return takes two steps back.

Senior Amrit Abbasi was vocal on how she felt about others singling out all Muslims as terrorists. As a Muslim herself, she was angered and broke her silence about Islamophobia. “ISIS does not equal Islam. Terrorism has no religion. ISIS and any group alike are repulsive and in no way represent the Islamic religion. Do not call these people Muslims when they are the same people who bomb mosques,” she said.

Violence and brutality are connected with the particular person or group who commit those acts. The small percentage of extremists should not be associated with the rest of the 1.6 billion Muslims who have absolutely to do with terrorism. Islamophobia is apparent and here. Families like Abbasi’s are effected by the hate speech and off handed remarks. Amrit is not a terrorist. Amrit is human.