YouTube download / AP video / In a historic groundswell of youth activism, hundreds of thousands of teenagers and their supporters rallied in Washington DC against gun violence Saturday, vowing to transform fear and grief into a "vote-them-out" movement and tougher gun laws. (March 24)
By DARLENE VANNEDGEWATER, Fla. -- Awhile back I was looking at the pictures of the students who walked out.
As time went on these crowds backing those first students grew larger until they were countrywide. I saw our young men and women using their civil rights to get a point across. I have seen several of the more outspoken Parkland classmates speaking about what needs to be done to protect them while at school. They were learned, eloquent, succinct and made excellent points.
I thought to myself that perhaps it’s time for us to listen to them instead of the politicians who aren’t doing what they need to be doing in this instance. It’s not completely about gun control and more about protection while they are in school which used to be the safest place for children to be during the day.
Lately, it is becoming closing the barn door after the horse is already out. It is time we take precautions before -- not after an event like Parkland or Newtown. If people listen to what these young people are saying instead of writing them off as just kids they might just be surprised at what sense they make, how they justify their points and how on point they are.
Lately, it is becoming closing the barn door after the horse is already out. It is time we take precautions before -- not after an event like Parkland or Newtown. If people listen to what these young people are saying instead of writing them off as just kids they might just be surprised at what sense they make, how they justify their points and how on point they are.
Seems to me that way back when our young men were being drafted and sent to Viet Nam coming home in body bags the young people of that day protested gently at first and then when not heard they got louder and rowdier. Those were different times, I know, but still, they were clamoring to be heard. Parents were sending their sons to Canada to keep them alive.
Eventually, we finally got out of that civil war we had no right to be in, times changed and things calmed down. Today’s young people are so much more sophisticated than past generations were at their ages. They are young but not dumb. They understand more than most adults think they do. Parents could take a leaf from their book and get up and protest wrongs being done to them rather than being politically correct and letting bad things slide. You and I know that not many people actually speak up for themselves let alone to help another person.
How sad is that?
We are all each other’s brother in this world and need to look out for others as well as ourselves. It is the right thing to do. I believe somewhere in the Bible it says “a child shall lead them. "I know the child is Jesus but how many times do we say that meaning a young person lead the way to a solution of some problem or other? It would be a much better world if we weren’t all for ourselves and instead for each other.