The articulate brave students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are of the school shooting generation. Since the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, there have been 209 shootings on a school campus (I had to update this number as I was writing this column). Some of these, when they don’t involve massive deaths, are not reported by the national media. It’s just an accepted part of life because there are so many.
But for the Parkland, Florida students, enough is enough. “Please don’t shoot,” one student inked on his hand. A 17-year-old Columbine student cried: “We have grown up watching more tragedies occur and continuously asking ‘Why?’” Even though the anguish of the grieving parents of 20 Sandy Hook kindergarten children in 2012 could not spur Congress to action, somehow the students at Parkland may. They need to keep the pressure on elected officials and that’s what they intend to do. They, unlike the president and members of Congress, are not afraid of the National Rifle Association. And many of them and students across the country when they turn 18 plan to vote and run for office. The pressure is on.
***
Marion Hammer is the top lobbyist for the NRA and the author of Florida’s permissive gun laws. The Florida resident recently profiled in The New Yorker may have met her match. The Parkland students convinced the Florida Legislature and the governor (who is running for U.S. Senate) to raise the age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21 and extend the waiting period to three days, actions which have inspired the wrath of the NRA and a lawsuit. Keep it up students.
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I asked two high school and two middle school students for their impressions of the 17-minute national student walkout March 14 to commemorate the 17 who were killed — why they participated, what it meant to them and did they think it was successful. Here’s a synopsis of their answers:
“ I wanted to speak for those who don’t feel they can use their voice. By posting this event on social media, it would continue to spread.”
“I participated to raise awareness about issues politicians and public officials have been ignoring”
“I wanted to make a difference in my community and protect everyone who cannot protect themselves, like my young siblings.”
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“I hoped if I walked out more would follow.”
“After the Stoneman Douglas shooting, parents and the school district responded by increasing security measures by closing off entrances into the school and hiring security guards. While I understand where the adults were coming from, I feel the best way to prevent these shootings is by implementing common sense gun control laws, rather than moving in the direction of turning schools into maximum security prisons. These decisions primarily affect the students so I think that it’s important that our opinions are heard.”
What did the walkout mean for you and will it make a difference?
“It gave me hope and confidence because so many students participated. If students continue to post. It will continue to spread.”
“As for activities following the walk out some were hugely successful. We had over 30 seniors register to vote. We raised hundreds of dollars for the Stoneman Douglas Charity.”
“The whole idea of this protest really spoke to me because students and innocent citizens deserve the right to live far more than you deserve to own guns”
“ I stepped out of my comfort zone that day because I was one of the speakers. I thought I would be able to keep my emotions guarded but as soon as that bell rang and I saw all the faces of my classmates, my tears started to flow. The usual rowdiness of teenagers just wasn’t there. They were silent, and poised. It all just hit me in that moment the reality of what I was doing. This wasn’t some movie I was watching about kids protesting the government. I was that student, holding the microphone, speaking to a sea of eager students. “But some of the students felt it wasn’t a real walkout because time was allotted for the protest and students stayed on campus. It did not require any personal sacrifice.”
***
Let’s respect that this is a student-organized protest. These young people are acting as adults, because adults have failed them in the past. We should take their words and actions seriously. These shootings have robbed much of their childhood and adolescent innocence.
Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. Her column runs every Monday. She can be reached at sue@smdailyjournal.com.
Those kids are really something as they proved this weekend. Looking forward to that same enthusiasm from these students when they set out in a few months to protest abortion; The number one killer of children in the world. I look forward to the same enthusiasm and support when they hit the streets again in defense of the defenseless. Maybe abortion will finally get the attention this issue has failed to get in the past from our elected officials in DC. I am certain our educational system will be just as lenient when the kids skip out of school to protest abortion as they were in the protest of guns.
To be consistent anyone supporting the unborn should also support living children, public education, day care support, lunch programs etc. If you want fewer abortions (seems good to me) you also need to be willing to offer support to those kids - it has to go beyond the thought that "it is the parents responsibility".
CC - read your post - it is dripping with sarcasm. This is not the time to intertwine abortion with new gun controls. Our founding fathers were talking about muskets not AR 15's.regarding the second amendment. Abortion due to rape and rare medical issues is necessary, that is why Pro Choice is the only logical phrase.
My point that I hoped you and others got is that these kids have been supported for this gun protest from our educational leaders. I hope that the same respect is given to the children protesting abortion. I am not making a moral argument for either one in my comment, I just support equal treatment to both groups of kids.
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(9) comments
Those kids are really something as they proved this weekend. Looking forward to that same enthusiasm from these students when they set out in a few months to protest abortion; The number one killer of children in the world. I look forward to the same enthusiasm and support when they hit the streets again in defense of the defenseless. Maybe abortion will finally get the attention this issue has failed to get in the past from our elected officials in DC. I am certain our educational system will be just as lenient when the kids skip out of school to protest abortion as they were in the protest of guns.
To be consistent anyone supporting the unborn should also support living children, public education, day care support, lunch programs etc. If you want fewer abortions (seems good to me) you also need to be willing to offer support to those kids - it has to go beyond the thought that "it is the parents responsibility".
The only people who believe abortion is tantamount to killing are religious whackadoodles, Chris. Embryos are not people.
OK, whatever you say God, I mean Mr. Morris.
Maybe Donald and Stormy could teach sex education?
CC - read your post - it is dripping with sarcasm. This is not the time to intertwine abortion with new gun controls. Our founding fathers were talking about muskets not AR 15's.regarding the second amendment. Abortion due to rape and rare medical issues is necessary, that is why Pro Choice is the only logical phrase.
My point that I hoped you and others got is that these kids have been supported for this gun protest from our educational leaders. I hope that the same respect is given to the children protesting abortion. I am not making a moral argument for either one in my comment, I just support equal treatment to both groups of kids.
With your track record, I didn't think it was even possible to hit a new low.
Maybe you should consider Donald and Stormy to teach sex education?
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