“Your Actions Matter”

On the afternoon of February 14, 2018, a mass shooting occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Terror filled the hallways, screams inundated the place and the death of 17 students was the most painful agony for the parents that were waiting to see their children when coming home.

The suspect, Nikolas Cruz pulled out a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle and started shooting students in five different classrooms while wandering in the first and second floors of the freshman building. He left all incriminating factors that would expose him as the premeditator in a stairwell- vest, rifle, and ammunition- and was able to blend and get away. Luckily, he was caught walking down a street by the officials that were looking for the suspect.

No laws were violated when obtaining the gun, but 17 lives were lost as a direct cause of it. Students and parents are currently collaborating to create change in the way guns are handled, specifically in their distribution being that weapons in the wrong hands can be lethal. They are not just seeking justice for what happened but making a difference in someone else’s life because what happened could have happened to anyone and can happen again if the proper measures are not implemented. The person handling the gun brings intention to the bullet and for that reason, parents and students are peacefully protesting to transform a flawed system of distribution into one that can be trusted to not allow the demise of so many innocent people.

Overcoming this obstacle is extremely challenging for the families affected but there is light at the end of the tunnel, there is hope for the future of society, there is a strength to keep fighting for change and there is kindness in people. In times of grief we console, in times of death we pray and in times of sadness, we unite. Uniting for the right cause makes us powerful and makes the message resound for the meaningfulness of its purpose. In this case, fighting for stricter gun control and appropriate distribution methods were the main focus of students, teachers, and parents since they don’t feel safe and comfortable inside educational institutions anymore. The lack of security makes schools an easy target for mentally-ill people wanting to harm large groups of individuals.

Schools in Florida have demonstrated their disapproval towards the government’s lack of action when finding a solution for this declared issue. John A. Ferguson Senior High was one of the schools that protested and showed respect towards those who lost their life. It all started on social media when Joel Franco proposed a national walkout at noon in response to the Florida School shooting.

“We want students to attend school and then promptly walk-out. Sit outside of schools and peacefully protest or wear orange which indicates the anti-gun violence movement.”  

Students started leaving class, minutes before second lunch started. They all walked to the courtyard in front of the falcon’s emblematic symbol and started showing their disappointment on the measures being taken by the government officials. First, students kept silence for 17 minutes to honor the 17 deaths of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas massacre. Once this was over, they peacefully started chanting for change accompanied by posters and the power of the color orange in their shirts.

What started off as a message claiming gun control, safer environment in schools and respect towards the lives lost ended by the wrongful decision of some students that completely discredited the efforts of the ones fighting for the right cause. A minority of the students decided to rebel instead by walking out of school grounds through the student’s parking lot and breaking the fence. Their claim was not peace anymore, they were violently defying the idea of security that their peers were defending.

The purpose of the walkout was completely diminished by the selfish actions of the students that simply did not care about reform. This incorrect approach was addressed by Principal Rafael Villalobos in the afternoon announcements when he expressed his disappointment on those who bluntly took the hard work of others and convert it into a meaningless action. The people involved in the breaking of the fence would be punished for their unreasonable behavior because violence was not going to be tolerated.

Joel Franco, updating on the national walkouts, posted that a freshman at John A. Ferguson reacted to her classmates breaking the school fence to leave campus: “The people that actually cared and peacefully protested stayed, chanted, and did not leave.”

Sending the right message is difficult because it can be incorrectly interpreted by others that only want an excuse to cause chaos. Those people disturbing others’ actions should be ashamed because they are not only ignoring the 17 deaths that occurred but impending change from happening. Change that will prevent more destruction, change that will benefit society, change that will allow others to live a peaceful life … the same change that could prevent any other death.  

Irrationality took over the good deeds of those peacefully protesting, taking away the significance of their doing. Before abruptly acting in an inadequate manner, think: Is this the right thing to do? Am I obstructing somebody else’s message? Am I disrespecting others? Am I being selfish? If your answers are “yes,” don’t be the person to destroy what others fervently wanted to achieve. You matter, your actions matter and your peaceful involvement CAN make a difference.