Not the first

Probably not the last

But a march for the books

Created by students

Enacted by students

Led by students

Encompassing the world

And demanding change.

What about the “Naysayers”?

They should have stayed in school March 14.

They walked OUT for 17 minutes of silence to honor the 17 dead.

They should “walk up” and make friends with the disenfranchised.

Respect for their peers, who are alone, should occur every day.

They should arm the teachers.

Teachers already provide instruction and in many cases, act as:

social workers, nurses, truant officers, coaches, curriculum writers,

test monitors, behavior management specialists,

cooks, transportation provider, time manager, hall monitor, 

and every other role legislated/mandated in your state.

They should have spent the money from the march on education and services for the mentally ill.

When the President signed the Executive Order that allowed

easier access to guns for the mentally ill?

 When Congress has reduced the funding for mentally ill individuals,

the students should supplant it with their funding?

The students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were organized, articulate, and such exemplar products of our public schools.

Speaking (and publicly puking from fear) from the heart to explain that this has become the “new normal” with active shooter drills, in between test prep, and wondering about college acceptance letters, prom and graduation.  Those events their 14 classmates cannot participate in because they are dead. Those seventeen lives lost in six minutes and twenty seconds.

They are fighting for their lives.

They are fighting for the lives of all the children that come after them.

They are fighting for the lives of ALL folks lost to gun violence.

They deserve to be heard.

They deserve our respect.

They deserve our praise.

They deserve our support.

They are our future.

Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for this daily forum each March. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.                                                                                                      

And special thanks to Margaret Simon for the helpful advice on this post.  Check out her post, “Marching”, here. Other slices can be found here, here and here.