These Kids are All Right
I was a little nervous about this weekend’s student-led March for Our Lives. Leading up to it, I’d read a few too many overheated and counterproductive quotes from young organizers, and feared the day’s events could fall victim to callow missteps and shrill speeches that would drive people away and undermine hopes that the post-Parkland activism could mark a real turning point.
Boy, was I wrong. Attending the march and rally in Doylestown, Pennsylvania on Saturday, led by Bucks County Students Demand Action, I was thoroughly impressed and inspired. The turnout was huge, with people of all ages and backgrounds marching from the local high school to the town square. The signs were imaginative, abundant and focused: save our kids, stop the NRA, vote their enablers out of office.
But it was the speeches, about a dozen made exclusively by Bucks County high school students, that really left an impression. Each was powerful, concise, measured and persuasive. Every speaker had a different point to make, and commanded the microphone like a seasoned veteran. Their facts and arguments — many of them fresh and original — were well prepared and drew vigorous applause.
The word “Trump” was never uttered. Though the list of 30 or so organizations and businesses thanked for supporting the march had a number of Democratic committees and entities, the students themselves weren’t just non-partisan but anti-partisan. They refused to embrace one party or another, or attach the issue to any ideology at all. To them, it stands on its own, above politics. The most vigorous cry was for something civic: register to vote, turn out in November, and remove from office any elected official who puts the influence of the gun lobby over the welfare of students.
One student spoke of growing up with a mentally ill father, who regularly contemplated suicide with the gun he was readily allowed to buy. Again and again he threatened to take his own life, and the gun became the dominating factor of her childhood. This student didn’t ask for pity, she demanded laws that would have prevented her father from getting a gun in the first place, given his condition.
A sign made the case: “This isn’t a mental health issue. Every country has mentally ill people. U.S. is the ONLY ONE that ARMS THEM.”
Other speakers talked of having to go through repeated drills to prepare for possible shooting events when they should be planning their proms and studying for their biology tests instead, and the burden of fear, worry and suspicion they were forced to endure.
It was refreshing to not have to hear from politicians, elected officials or other hangers-on. This was truly a case of young people seizing the mantle of leadership from adults who’ve accomplished little or nothing, no matter how well intentioned. Few adults I can think of would have acquitted themselves as well as these students, who spoke concisely and passionately, then promptly moved aside for the next person. After taking turns reading the names of the 17 Parkland victims, a moment of silence, a poem and a song, the rally ended after about an hour, with everyone energized instead of having their attention span drained by endless, self-serving droning.
I left heartened. Maybe this age group’s awakening is exactly what we need. Having had serious doubts and less-than-ideal experiences with millennials in the workplace and social justice arena, I was prepared to be cynical. But we urgently need younger generations to seize their political power and do their part to lead this country out of its current morass. The timing is ideal: less than eight months to build and maintain their momentum and ignite a surge in voting that can break the NRA’s control of our legislatures, and begin the process of restoring sanity and balance to our gun laws.
We owe these “kids” — young adults, really — our support, hope and faith. They are who we were once upon a time, and their success can be our salvation.
