Students at Victor Scott Primary School know all too well about the recent spate of violence in Bermuda.

Many of them live in the Pembroke neighbourhood where multiple shootings have taken place, and some of them have been personally affected.

Sophia Iris' P3 class has written letters to those involved, begging them to stop shooting and end their heartache.

One student, Kerry Puckerin-Tear, is the daughter of Perry Puckerin. Mr. Puckerin was gunned down outside of Hamilton Parish Workmen's Club in January.

Malaikah Abdul-Jabar, whose book 'Stop the Shooting' has earned praise here and abroad, is in the class.

Other members are Rico Carreiro, Rebecca Cowan, Letrae Doeman, Quadre Emery, Udori Henry, Lejae Nesbitt, Jah-Donte Parks, Chole-Christina Smith, Destiny Smith, Jadeja Smith, Amani Smith and Ne-Jai Smith.

"In light of the fact that one of my students lost her father to this senseless gun violence, I decided to have the children express themselves in writing [to give a better] understanding of how powerful our words can be," Ms Iris said.

"I asked them to write how they were feeling [if they were] angry and confused and hurt. I wanted them to have an opportunity to speak and I wanted Bermuda to hear their voices.

She continued: "I think that it's past time [something was done]. Now it's affecting the children. I wanted to give them a platform, a way to be heard.

"I am tired of seeing the tears. I am tired of answering the questions 'Why does my godpa have to be lost?' and 'Why did my daddy get shot?'.

"These are questions that seven- and eight-year-olds shouldn't have to ask. And it's time for us to use our voices to effect change in our Island."

In their letters, the children honed in on the pain the violence was causing families.

Jah'Donte, said: "The way I feel about the shootings is Bermuda wasn't like this and then it was and then they started fighting and shooting people. They're taking people away from their families and now their families are sad."

Rebecca agreed the Island had changed for the worse in the seven years since she'd been born.

"I think that it's really mean because before living in Bermuda used to mean you were living on one of the best Islands and now it means watching your back because you might die."

Lejae said he was sad "because they shot my uncle".

Added Udori: "I feel sad because it's affecting people and Bermuda needs peace."

Ne-Jai said he was saddened because "they shot three of my godpas and one of them used to take good care of me."

Asked what should be done to stop the violence, most of the children said the Police need to get more involved.

"I think the Police should shut down the guns and all the gunmen need to stop shooting and put away the guns and throw them in the trash," said Letrae.

Rebecca highlighted the vicious circle that had ensued as a result of the violence.

"I think that they should stop because they have actually affected other people by making them mad," she said. "They got the guns to get back at them.

"It's not going to stop unless they find a way to stop the other people. They say 'you killed him so I'm going to kill you'."

Chole-Christina said: "I think to stop the shooting, they have to take away the guns so that Bermuda will have peace again so they will stop shooting people."

Malaikah suggested a different approach: "I think people should make peace clubs so the people who believe that Bermuda could stop the violence, they could come there and make up a plan how to stop shooting."

Udori said: "The Police they should take the guns away from people because people could get affected and because a child sees somebody shoot people, they will probably think they should do it when they grown up."

According to Lejae, the shootings were sometimes a case of mistaken identity or the result of one person being jealous of another's possessions.

Several people have been shot in the school's neighbourhood. Kimwandae Walker was shot on the school field while flying kites with his two children on Good Friday.

The students say the violence has not made them too scared to return for lessons every day but some of them admit to being afraid to walk home.

Lejae said: "When I walk up the hill, sometimes I think that somebody might be in the grass getting ready to shoot me."

Jah-Donte said: "I was scared to walk home because when I was riding my bike somebody started shooting and then my chain popped off so I dropped off my bike and started running."

Udori said: "I feel afraid to walk home because somebody might shoot somebody by accident and then they might come after another person and come and shoot me in my house."

Ms Iris said her role and that of all teachers at Victor Scott has changed as a result.

"At Victor Scott, we do our best to provide a safe environment for the children," she said. "We let them know that this is their safe haven they can let us know how they feel.

"We try to never allow them to feel that what they say is silly or not important enough to be heard. We let them know that their voices are tomorrow's voices so, as such, we give them a platform on which to stand."