Protesting Mass Shootings - What Would I Do?
This past weekend nationwide rallies were held by March For Our Lives, a student-led organization calling for action to reduce gun violence. The rallies reminded me of a question I've asked myself a number of times recently. If I were a grade school/high school student, or a parent of a student, what would I do? Besides attend a rally, I mean. Specifically, would I refuse to attend school or send my kids to school until meaningful steps to protect students are taken?
"Protest by refusing to go to school," is an easy thing to say. And indeed, various protest organizers have suggested it. Often it's a one-day or half-day thing; "Skip school this Friday to protest gun violence." But in some corners it's "Refuse to go at all" until political leaders meaningfully address the problem.
The problem with skipping school is that it's not a solution. It does nothing to raise the pressure on the intransigent political leaders who've thwarted meaningful change for 40 years. The mounting death toll of students mowed down in their classrooms by angry people with paramilitary weapons hasn't appealed to their better angels; so all that's left now for protest is to make them feel the pain of the situation they've created. Students skipping school does not do that. The people most hurt by that are the students themselves. They lose educational opportunities, they may be disqualified for a high school diploma, their prospects for college are jeopardized. I can only imagine how risky it would've been for me to tell the highly selective colleges I was applying to as a teenager, "Well, I didn't actually get a H.S. diploma because I was staying home to protest lack of public safety." Likewise if I were the parent of a high school student I don't think I could in good faith support them choosing to stay home.
"Protest by refusing to go to school," is an easy thing to say. And indeed, various protest organizers have suggested it. Often it's a one-day or half-day thing; "Skip school this Friday to protest gun violence." But in some corners it's "Refuse to go at all" until political leaders meaningfully address the problem.
The problem with skipping school is that it's not a solution. It does nothing to raise the pressure on the intransigent political leaders who've thwarted meaningful change for 40 years. The mounting death toll of students mowed down in their classrooms by angry people with paramilitary weapons hasn't appealed to their better angels; so all that's left now for protest is to make them feel the pain of the situation they've created. Students skipping school does not do that. The people most hurt by that are the students themselves. They lose educational opportunities, they may be disqualified for a high school diploma, their prospects for college are jeopardized. I can only imagine how risky it would've been for me to tell the highly selective colleges I was applying to as a teenager, "Well, I didn't actually get a H.S. diploma because I was staying home to protest lack of public safety." Likewise if I were the parent of a high school student I don't think I could in good faith support them choosing to stay home.