On February 14, Valentine's Day of all days, a shooter began firing at innocent students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.
Unfortunately I've seen this scenario play out over and over again in my life. I was only three years old when Columbine happened. Though Columbine wasn't the first school shooting in the U.S., it was the first of its kind and has become infamous, unfortunately inspiring others of its caliber.
I've never lived in a world where school shootings didn't exist, which is a sad reality to face, so I know how these things tend to go.
There's usually an unfortunate cycle with this crisis situation.
Shock
Thoughts and Prayers
Arguing about gun rights via the internet
The story gets buried in the news
Everyone moves on or forgets
Another school shooting happens
The cycle repeats
But this most recent shooting has broken this mold - thank God.
Politicians often respond to a mass shooting by saying "now is not the time for political discussion" implying that it's too soon to talk about gun laws and gun control. But the students in Florida are calling them out on this.
One MSD student said on Twitter, "Why would it be too early to talk about gun control? I say it's too late. Pulse shouldn't have happened. Sandy Hook shouldn't have happened. MSD shouldn't have happened. It was already too late 70 years ago and it's overdue now. #GUNCONTROLNOW #NoMoreHiding."
Personally, I think if anyone is going to dictate when the right time to talk about gun control is, it should be someone who was actually there and who lived through it. I trust their opinion more than someone who sits on capitol hill guarded from reality.
Students have taken to the streets, social media, the government, news outlets, anyplace they can share their message, and the remarkable thing is people are listening.
Thanks to social media, the stories of these students and their first-hand accounts of the shooting have gone viral, giving them a platform to ignite change.
The students at MSD have revolutionized the way we respond to this type of crisis situation. People all across the nation have joined this movement. Celebrities have been posting about this on Twitter, and news outlets haven't moved on from this story. There's continual coverage of the protests, interviews with the students, and an entire movement has sparked from this tragedy.
We're having conversations that are necessary if we ever want to fix this problem. These are teenagers, 14-18-year-olds, who are demanding congress, Washington D.C., and the entire nation do something now.
Trump met with victims and parents about this on Thursday, Feb. 21. Parents of students from Sandy Hook, Columbine, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, and many other people who have been affected by gun violence in the U.S., particularly in or around schools, were there. It was a powerful event.
Vice President Pence and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos were also there to hear the opinions, stories, suggestions, and pleas from these victims and parents.
This has all happened because the students stood up and said, "enough is enough." They've gotten the attention of the nation and aren't letting us forget what happend. It's been a week since the school shooting in Florida and we're still taking about it.
America needs this. These teens are leading a revolution and I say, more power to them. They are our future and it's their lives at stake.
Sources
https://www.bustle.com/articles/141151-was-columbine-the-first-school-shooting-in-the-united-states-sue-klebold-finally-speaks-out-on
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/21/us/florida-school-shooting-town-hall-latest/index.html
https://www.wsj.com/articles/youtube-says-it-mistakenly-promoted-a-conspiratorial-video-on-florida-shooting-1519257359?mod=e2tw
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/aj-agrawal/what-role-is-social-media_b_9033612.html