My Thoughts Exactly.
March 15, 2018
I don’t necessarily like to get political, especially around my peers, but there was something about yesterday that just really bothered me – a walk out for 17 minutes in memory of the 17 people killed. I frequently asked myself, leading up to 10:00 am, what difference will this make? Would a town, or rather a village, of 1,814 people where only about 30 high school students stood outside in the back of the high school make a difference? It didn’t. There was no change, no actual turning point that occured. I still don’t know what the point of it was, memoriam, protest or both? I truly believe that many of the people who went outside didn’t know either. I asked one of the sophomores going to make a stand, “What are you going out there for?” She responded with “I don’t really know, but I think it’s for a good cause- like gun control or something.” To get to my actual point across, I think there was a much simpler way to make a big difference. Maybe smile at 17 people you normally wouldn’t smile at, say kind words to 17 people who might not have someone to speak to, offer friendship to 17 people who might have no friends. Do 17 good acts. Write or call your state representative with your opinion. It’s almost effortless. Now that could change the climate of the school. 17 reasons for change… 17 reasons to make a difference. #walkup
Josh • Mar 15, 2018 at 12:24 pm
I walked out as a personal memorial to the victims of ALL mass shootings, for what it’s worth.
Also, you’re right. Obviously 30 students standing behind a school where nobody will see them doesn’t make a difference, but this school *isn’t* the school or student body who organized the walkout; we simply followed in the footsteps of the ones who did organize it. Every school did. That is why the walkout happened; to bring nationwide attention to the issue. If Orion walks out, that will accomplish nothing; however, in the grand scheme of things, Orion walking out is one more name on the list of school walkouts. The more names are on that list, the more attention is brought to the issue. We, as underaged students, can not vote. We can only bring attention to issues. Looking at the media this past month, that’s obviously worked, at least enough to spark discussion.
Josh • Mar 15, 2018 at 12:29 pm
@Josh, Also, you tell us to make 17 people smile, or do 17 good acts. My response is: why not both? These are two different things. The walkout was, as I stated, intended to rally attention toward the issue of school shootings. Surely we can agree that, while doing 17 good deeds is a great act, it will not capture the attention of the media even a fraction as much as the walkout did, if at all. To that end, the point of doing 17 good deeds is…well, it’s great, but I can’t say I’m certain what it would accomplish in the context of school shootings, except perhaps stopping a potential school shooter because somebody was nice to him, which, I’ll concede, should be done. Anyway, my point is, why can both not co-exist? The result of one does not fulfill the potential result of the other.
Claire McLoone • Mar 15, 2018 at 1:55 pm
Did Orion’s student walk out capture the media? I don’t believe so. Did Orion’s walkout actually accomplish anything?
Josh Eastin • Mar 15, 2018 at 2:27 pm
@Claire McLoone, Whomever approved my comment did not approve the first one, in which your question was answered.
I wrote, as follows: “If only Orion walks out, that will accomplish nothing; however, in the grand scheme of things, Orion walking out is one more name on the list of school walkouts. The more names are on that list, the more attention is brought to the issue.”
It’s about the principle of the matter.