A Call to Disarm

On Feb. 21 a crowd of WHHS students walked out of class to support gun control after the school shooting that left 17 dead in Parkland, Fla. “We are here because we are sick of fellow American children being killed and not being able to be safe in their own learning environment,” an anonymous student said.

Chatterbox Editorial Board

We know it too well. From active shooter drills to seemingly weekly mass shootings in the news, the culture of gun violence in the U.S. has been as much a part of our childhood as Netflix and Instagram.

Most recently, this has manifested itself in the deaths of 17 individuals at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Fourteen students and three staff members went to school on Valentine’s Day—their biggest worries likely being a test that morning or discord among their friends—and never came home.

This problem is not new. The shooting at Columbine High School occurred April 20, 1999, before virtually any current student at WHHS was born. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have died as a result of gun violence, both in mass shootings and gun-related homicides, according to the FBI. It seems that after every mass casualty event, there is a call for change that is never answered. Messages of “it’s too soon” and “thoughts and prayers” block any real action until the shooting has left the public’s mind.

But the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School can be different. Already, change seems truly possible, and there is one primary reason: students. Students have stood up to call for stronger school safety, through improved mental health care, new school security procedures and more restrictive gun legislation.

We stand with the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. This is our safety, our country, our lives. Though most of us cannot vote, at least not yet, it is our right and our responsibility to express our beliefs and to fight to make them a reality.

We must stand up for legislative changes surrounding guns.

We must stand up and help those in our community who suffer from mental illness. We can, and must, stand up for change so no one feels this pain again.

School safety is an issue that we can work to solve. The Chatterbox encourages all students to learn more about this issue, contact their congressmen and take an active stand toward achieving true change in American society.

We, as the future of America, as well as its present, must embrace the idea that every individual life matters and advocate for school safety.