Friday will mark the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting. As a recent Technician news article noted, NC State students will walk out of class at 10 a.m. to stand in the Court of North Carolina in solidarity with the victims and survivors of numerous other school shootings. The protest to make a call for gun reform is being organized by Jena Phillips, a second-year studying political science, since she and her peers do not feel safe at school.
These students are not alone. Just last night, a friend of mine was recounting something that had happened in one of his lectures. A fellow classmate accidentally dropped their laptop on the floor, and the sound echoed throughout the otherwise quiet room. My friend, along with several other students, was startled since the noise uncannily resembled that of a gunshot being fired. It’s crazy how the first thought running through their minds was an active shooter.
As I wrote in a column after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February, gun reform and stricter ownership laws are needed, but it’s taking a surprisingly long time for the nation to prioritize lives over the right to own guns. Large-scale walkouts are probably what we need to start getting across the sheer magnitude of the problem. Students have begun movements throughout schools and cities all around the United States to call for restrictions on gun access.
On March 14, one month after the Parkland shooting, thousands of students walked out of class to protest gun violence. At the March for Our Lives rally, students in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia walked up to the streets in front of the Capitol to make their voice heard to the lawmakers.
Originally and until not too long ago, I was convinced that mere walkouts would not do anything to change policies that are as good as set in stone, in agreement with a fellow columnist. All law enforcement would need to do was endure a couple of hours of chanting slogans, and they could simply go on with their ways. In fact, less than a week after the Stoneman Douglas shooting, the Florida House voted down a motion to take up a bill that would ban assault rifles.
However, this incident seems to have been the last straw and has stirred up an untamable rage within teenagers who won’t back down until something is done about a problem that has been prevalent for a long time. In part because students wouldn’t accept inaction by their legislators, Florida eventually passed a significant gun control law in early March.
As of now, public marches, such as the one in Washington, seem to be the only way for thousands of people to directly communicate with those in charge and get things moving, so to speak. Protests and public dissent have the power to put social pressure on government officials. They give large groups the opportunity to take part in an issue that’s collectively impacting them and actively take a stance. The more they happen, the more they are talked about and the harder they are to ignore.
Since the Parkland shooting has exhausted the patience of many, walkouts and marches related to gun reform are unlikely to fade away in the near future, and so they have the ability to send an urgent message to propel the rest of the population. Thus, the higher the number of NC State students to walk out on Friday, the more the impact the movement will have.
Phillips mentioned another reason to organize the walkout was to increase awareness on how to react in the case of a shooter. Students are advised to move away from the shooting and to a safe location as soon as possible. Hiding or taking shelter is also a means to protect yourself.
However, all of this is certainly easier said than done. It makes more sense to avoid an active shooter situation altogether rather than escaping an ongoing one. While it won’t solve the root problem, the walkout is a step in the right direction and will get more students involved in this matter.
Students at NC State will walk to the Court of North Carolina, where they will sit in protest for approximately one hour. Taking part in the march is a sign that you’re still angry about the large number of shootings that have taken place, and you haven’t just accepted that this is how it is and will continue to be.
