The Parkland shooting was over a month ago now and I still feel uneasy. I still feel for every single kid and their family who had to go through this senseless act of violence. I still beam with pride every time one of these kids makes the news because of their tireless fight towards sensible gun laws. However, I feel uneasy for a different reason.

By now, you've probably seen the posts going around social media about "walking up" to the quiet kids and talking to them instead of walking out in protest of the lack of gun control.

Well, I'm here to tell you that this is a garbage thing to do and it actually is considered a form of bullying.

First of all, why aren't we already doing that? My mom always taught me to be kind to everyone at school. That's just a thing you should do. If you notice someone is sitting alone, you invite them to your table. It's called being nice.

This "new fangled thing" has been around forever if you were raised in a house that taught you to be kind to people, which should be most households. Plus, the "walkup" movement was created by people who, essentially, are afraid of these kids standing up for what they believe in and trying to make a difference. Isn't that what we want from today's kids?

"But, wait, Taylor, didn't you say walkup was a form of bullying?"

In a post shared by a friend of mine regarding a student in the Columbine shooting, this student (whose name is withheld in the post), recounts what it felt like to be part of a "walkup" movement. Here are just a few quotes pulled from the post (which you can view here):

"A number of "weird kids" (myself included) were rounded up and sent to the guidance counselor's office to "talk about our feelings" (assess whether we were a threat) and it was humiliating."

"Student leaders were encouraged to "walk-up" to us. This lead to a lot of disingenuous conversations and check-ins that left most of us even more embarrassed and genuinely angry."

"It eventually took my mom coming to the school and speaking to the principal for it to stop."

Singling kids out, no matter what it's for, is bullying. It's OK for there to be quiet kids who sit in the corner and don't talk to anyone. It's OK for there to be kids who aren't like the others. It's OK for kids to talk to other kids and invite each other to do things, unmotivated by a movement. What's not OK are the people who think that every quiet kid in school is a potential threat.

I'm sure that most of these kids who are being walked up to already have targets on their backs put there by the people who are supposed to be making our schools safe. These kids don't want to be forced to talk to people because these "adults" are afraid that the quiet kid is going to be the next to tote an AR-15. Chances are, these walk-ups are doing more harm than good.

Shy kids are not the problem. People who are afraid of change are the problem.

Support those who are marching around the country for change here.