Last week, thousands of people, young and old, marched across the country in support of the 17 victims massacred in the Parkland shooting on Valentine’s Day in the March for Our Lives. They shouted #NeverAgain, and politicians, civilians and celebrities alike showed their support for the brave students who survived the traumatic event. I agree that these students, who suffered such a horrific loss, some even seeing their classmates killed right in front of their eyes, have endured something that no child or human in general should have to endure. Ever.
However, why are some of these survivors being silenced for having different political views? Kyle Kashuv, for example, is a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and even after the shooting, he believes gun control is not the solution to the problem. You won’t see his name in the headlines, you won’t see his face on TIME magazine, despite the fact that he has met with lawmakers of both parties and President Trump himself. Sure, he has a different view than most of the survivors, but that shouldn’t make his voice less valuable. And there are more just like him who continue to go unnoticed.
No matter what your opinion is, shouldn’t we be celebrating ALL of the children who survived this horrible event and have enough bravery to take a stand for their opinions? Why are prominent names glorifying a specific group of these victims for speaking out and ignoring those with differing views? If this movement is really about empowering young people to speak their mind and change the world, WHY are we silencing a majority of them? Sadly, it makes me believe that most of the praise we are seeing toward the movement has little to do with the lives of children and everything to do with pushing political agendas.
This is NOT fair. It’s not fair for Emma Gonzalez, one of the #NeverAgain movement leaders and shooting survivors, it’s not fair for Kyle Kashuv, and it’s not fair to the victims who lost their lives that horrible day. We need to stop discriminating against others for their political viewpoints and REALLY empower young people to speak what they believe. The movement has also been criticized for silencing the views of different races. This is a disservice to the younger generation who does not fall in line with this certain mold.
This ideology doesn’t stop with #NeverAgain. People are shamed for their points of view every day. Nearly everyone points fingers at the media claiming that it has pressured men and women into specific gender roles and this is frowned upon, but isn’t glorifying a specific political view over another doing the same? Or just a specific group in general? Why do people today have to be the same as everyone else to have a voice that is heard?
This is not about politics, at least, it shouldn’t be. This should be about making sure everyone’s voice is able to be shared. This should be about hearing different points of view from the children whose lives were forever changed on February 14th, 2018. This should not be about shaming a certain side for their beliefs, and this goes both ways. It’s amazing what the group of students supporting #NeverAgain are doing; they are changing the world and using their voice and they are being heard...but let’s not silence others in the process.
