In the world we live in today, there are many violence-related events turning up right now that the country needs to get a better handle on to make the rest of our lives safer and easier. There have been walkouts and protests starting from topics like gun violence to topics like teachers fighting for higher school funding and better pay.
Yes, the teachers got what they were fighting for, but at what cost? Nine days of constant protesting? Or at the cost of still not getting the number of funds needed to educate children (who, may I add, are the children of tomorrow)?
Yes, the teacher protest was very important, but the main series of walkouts and protests today snap back to those regarding gun violence. For National Walkout Day, by marching to the Capitol, students across the nation are fighting for what they believe in so that they can be safe. However, it is not only schools that are being affected.
Restaurants and stores with many people who are also victims of these shootings and assaults are protesting. And these protests that are making a difference are all student-led.
Because when we believe in something, we go all the way.
The fact that they are led by students goes to show that the future will be saved — not by our government taking action by signing a bill or two but by the students who are risking their time and education and are deciding to get up and do something for it. Just so they can push the government to do something, too.
The only problem at hand is that no matter how much students do, only so much on our part can be done successfully. It is ultimately up to the government of the United States to decide if it wants to change the amendments still in the Constitution from centuries ago.
Amendments like this specifically include the second amendment with the right to bear arms. We understand that the right to bear arms is something that is important to many, but the fact that there is no extensive background check on getting a weapon, but there is when getting a car, makes one think twice about stepping out of the house.
Yes, the amendments today may not change, but the way we interpret them and use them can. We can start by allowing more thorough background checks when individuals are in the process of purchasing guns.
The fact that the government is not doing so makes me feel as if the policy makers truly do not care for their people.
This feeling stems from the gun violence protests that have been happening for a very long time now. Yes, they are more known and apparent in schools now, but the fact that these protests have been going on since the first school shooting without a single political figure doing anything only further proves my point.
"Be the change you want to see in the world." — Mahatma Gandhi
As students, we are always told these words. But now that we are becoming the change, still nothing is happening in the world. Instead, things seem to be getting worse.
SEE ALSO: As A Northview Student, I Feared For Our Lives When A Shooter Threatened To Attack
I feel that the change needs to come from us, as well as the government. We students have done our share, and we continue to protest for what we believe is right, but now, the government needs to stand up for its people. It needs to start changing laws it knows to be wrong and to have been written when this kind of violence was not happening. Times have changed, so our interpretations of the amendments need to as well.
The government needs to start working to protect. If our history has taught us anything, it is that the generations of today need to take charge so the government will change for the better.
