th<\/sup> 2018, we saw what youth can do. Hundreds of thousands marched in Washington, and millions more marched across the country. They marched for change and for making their lives and ours, better. They are high school kids and they marched to claim possession of the power to end an American problem, a problem that older generations failed to solve.<\/p>\nTheir speeches were articulate and moving. Even in a little rally at the county courthouse in Newark, Ohio, the high school students made their views clear, and asked for simple common sense.\u00a0\u00a0 They also spoke from their heart, from the fear of a generation taught to bar the door, huddle in the corner, and throw rocks and soup cans against a semi-automatic rifle.<\/p>\n
They have made it clear: America should not be a land where mass shootings are commonplace. They see a the way to solve the problem, remove the weapons of war that have strangely been accepted into our society by the older generations. Yes, better mental health care; yes, better background checks; but the real solution is in the guns.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t change the subject. Adults who see the power of the movement are drawn to deflect it for their own needs. Well meaning adults, even teachers. who want to see less bullying in schools, who want to see kindness in place of cruelty, are trying to co-opt the energy of the \u201crevolution.\u201d These adults are acting as a buffer for the NRA, distracting from the raw agenda that frightens the lobbyists. Don\u2019t let them change the subject.<\/p>\n
Politicians see a mass of energy, votes, and workers. They may share many of the \u201crevolution\u2019s\u201d views, but they see a path to election through the kids. They want that energy behind them, so they race to lead the students. These kids don\u2019t want or need to be lead. They are not interested in the traditions of transactional politics. Agree, don\u2019t agree, to them it\u2019s how do they get America to change. Politicians: don\u2019t change the subject.<\/p>\n
There certainly are adults who are \u201cenabling\u201d these students. As one of the student leaders said, \u201c\u2026I\u2019m seventeen, I can\u2019t make a hotel reservation.\u201d Those adults are doing a great job of coaching, letting the students determine the course, and then helping them find the tools to get to their goals. There are parents and teachers and school administrators behind these kids, but they have found the way to let kids lead. They haven\u2019t changed the subject, and they have kept the movement in the students\u2019 hands.<\/p>\n
And the students have expanded their movement to include not just victims of mass shootings. One of the most powerful speeches in Washington yesterday was by a young woman from South-Central Los Angeles. She spoke of the loss of her brother to gun violence, she learned to \u201cduck\u201d gunfire before she could read. We heard from black students from Chicago, where gun and police violence are part of their everyday lives. This is more than just the students who survived Parkland, it\u2019s about kids who survive\u00a0gun violence everyday.<\/p>\n
The National Rifle Association will try to make this about \u201cprivileged Parkland kids.\u201d They\u2019ll try to pit rural versus urban kids, and they\u2019ll try to convince America that there are only two choices: semi-automatic weapons or taking away the Second Amendment and all guns. These kids recognize that the subject is much more complicated, they aren\u2019t falling for the NRA bait. Don\u2019t let the NRA change the subject.<\/p>\n
How can we enable these students without co-opting their movement? They are really asking for one thing: \u00a0that our vote becomes our tool for change. We must demand of our candidates that they accept a solution to end gun violence. If they do, then they get our vote, if they don\u2019t, then we vote them out. That\u2019s how we can support this \u201crevolution.\u201d And, we can\u2019t let others change the subject.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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