Today, March 14th, 2018, numerous students from middle schools, high schools, and colleges around the world decided to “walk out” for 17 minutes in honor of the Parkland shooting. When I heard about this I was speechless.
For me, I thought that this was such a brave cause that it allowed me to believe that there is actually is hope for our future world. I don’t get into politics nor do I follow anything of the sort, but to me, I thought this was amazing. Students from all around the world, put their political beliefs away for 17 minutes to honor the tragic event of the Parkland shooting.
I was super excited to hear that my high school, Shasta High School in Redding, California, decided to host a walkout for the students that were killed. I thought it was inspiring to see that my own town, my own high school, participated in such an amazing event.
Although to me, this event was amazing, I saw on numerous social medias a post that just tore me down.
The social media post that just broke my heart was “The gun is not the murderer; the person is. So you guys have fun walking out for gun control but I’m going to be inside where it’s warm and dry and knowing 100% what I stand for."
This absolutely enrages me and makes me want to cry. I get it. Gun control is a big issue with both parties and everyone has their own opinions on it.
Though the thing is, is that this is an act of good human nature. Walking out for these 17 students and all the other students who have been shot and killed is an act of a pure and genuine human. Yes, politics matter, but every day the world fights over things.
Why can’t today just be the day where everyone lowers their head for this cause? It hurts my heart to see kids scared to have a moment of silence because they’re worried about people judging their political parties, but for me, I just don’t understand how one can argue against something of this sort.
I can’t even imagine what it was like for all the students who have ever been through a shooting, for all the parents who have lost their children and all the siblings who have lost their brothers and sisters. These people have had to go through one of the hardest things and I can’t wrap my head around it. If I was ever in a situation of this sort, I would want every high school, every teacher, and anyone who has ever been through a tragic incident like this to bow their head and give silence in honor of the ones who were killed.
I don’t want to ever imagine this scenario, but I know that any support, whether you support gun control or you don’t, helps mend the pain.
Personally, I think that every individual who has ever been killed in a shooting deserves the silence and respect of anyone.
Not only that, but even if your opinion doesn’t agree and “you’re standing up for what you believe in," at least have the respect for everyone else and be silent about it.
