On 2/26/18, @mayflower_gal & I approached our school administration with a proposal, calling for our school to participate in a walkout; asking students to stand up and help speak out against gun violence. We were not alone; 6 other students also made a plan to walkout.
Admin met with all of us. Our original plans, while in need of further work, accounted for the variety of perspectives and opinions existing in our community while still emphasizing the point of the national movement #Enough.
During a series of meetings with admin, however, the students who were the most passionate were pushed to the side while the representatives of student council took control and twisted the original intent of our plan.
Rather than standing for the right of students to be safe in schools, we’re holding yet another assembly to promote kindness. This is no longer a student led movement, but instead an administration agenda masked as a student council project.
Again, students who are passionate about activism yet unable to win a *popularity game* are pushed aside. The complacency of the current school admin in this matter is directly contrary to the national movement which has been sparked by the Parkland tragedy.
It’s meant to be uncomfortable. It’s not easy to talk about, and it’s not going to be easy to talk about. Yet We the People MUST have this conversation. Too many lives depend upon a solution that we all can agree on.
The insistence of admin and the student council to morph the walkout so that it doesn’t offend anyone has had the opposite effect, it offends those who wished to participate in a national movement, those who initially brought this matter to the attention of admin.
It tells students who want to advocate for themselves and their peers that their voices will not be heard. My message to authorities who wish to muffle the movement in the name of keeping people happy – DON’T! Don’t be afraid of making people uncomfortable.
Don’t make people feel so uncomfortable that you silence the voices that may someday save your life. To all those students who feel voiceless – DON’T BACK DOWN!!! Keep shouting! Keep fighting! There’s always someone listening. If they don’t hear you, say it louder.
Show people why you need to advocate; and when facing adversaries, show people why you are strong. I believe in myself, I will not silence my own voice. I will keep fighting for what I believe in until I have crumbled every wall that stands in my way. I’VE HAD #ENOUGH !!!
