Collage of Voices
Progressive Teens stand in solidarity with Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
By The Progressive Teen Team
In light of the recent shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and the bold displays of activism and protests carried out by students, The Progressive Teen would like to show our support by creating a “collage of voices.” We had our staff writers send us short paragraphs explaining why gun reform is vital and what it means to us on a personal level.
As high school students, this shooting hits close to home for us. It forces us to recognize a situation that we think will never happen in our own high schools. This situation demands us to be activists, to make our voices heard, and to help ensure that our schools, the very place where we go to improve ourselves, remains a safe haven for all. The following are short yet powerful messages from high school students around the nation. They display solidarity with Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and give insight into why gun reform is necessary.
-Priya Sarma (Editor-In-Chief of The Progressive Teen)
“I live in a “safe” community- a community in which I’d like to think nothing could ever happen. With recent events, it’s clear that no community, no town, and no school is truly safe with military-grade weapons in circulation. As much as I’d like to think I live in a protected environment, I know there’s only so much protection that can be offered when faced with incidents such as the recent Stoneman-Douglas shooting. This shouldn’t be the case. My classmates and I should not have to walk the halls afraid. We should not have to be told there’s nothing we can do. We should not have to sit still while school shootings are becoming a commonplace occurrence. We deserve newer, stricter gun legislation and the right to feel safe in our own classrooms.”
-Dante Silva
“I stand for common sense gun laws because the US is the only place where people have been successfully buying powerful guns in a matter of minutes and killing children. I stand for gun control because I’m desensitized to getting the notification about the next “deadliest mass shooting” every few months. I stand for gun laws because in 1789 when our Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution, no musket had the power to continually fire rounds that could kill in a matter of seconds. I stand for gun control because I am not against the Second Amendment, I simply think in modern times things have changed and in an era of rifles that have the power to nearly instantly kill people with one touch, there needs to be some updating of gun laws that matches the progression of gun advancements. I stand for gun control because politicians who say “it’s not the gun” know that an assault weapon can kill several in seconds but refuse to admit it. I stand for gun laws because I agree we need better mental health care, but fixing it won’t stop shootings, as the availability of weapons meant to kill is the most perilous part — many mentally ill people don’t seek out violence, but with the current gun laws find an easy way to do so. I stand for gun control because of the politicians who tweet thoughts and prayers while sitting on millions from NRA donations and instead of addressing the people being murdered, believe it’s more important to discuss giving rich people tax cuts and debating porn than talking about gun control. I stand for gun control because it clearly has worked all over the world, with a prominent example being Australia, who passed legislation in the 90’s after a mass shooting and hasn’t had one since then. I stand with gun control because of the courage of the kids in Parkland, who have suffered the most horrific moment in their life, immediately calling for action and activism across the nation. I stand with gun control because no parent should have to grieve their child’s death that could have been avoided with a little action from Congress.”
- Anjali Ramakrishnan
“After watching the town hall on CNN with the students and community of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, followed by changing channels and listening to Tucker Carlson’s belittling commentary on their demands and painting them as pawns of the left, it was hard to sleep. My belief that it is important to listen to opposing viewpoints on important issues has created many twilight zone experiences for me this past year, with it seeming like there are two separate Americas in existence today. Tonight, for me, was by far the worst. My thoughts and prayers are with the MSD school community; I am in awe of their students’ presence of mind and strength of character in the face of such a horrific experience. In the midst of their pain and grief, they have stepped forward to protect other students like me across the country; thank you! That there are any adults with the audacity to paint these MSD students as pawns of the left is beyond infuriating, it is reprehensible. It is totally disingenuous for any intelligent human being to deny that guns have anything to do with these tragedies. If those in office ignoring their pleas were not being paid via campaign donations by the NRA, they would not be using the 2nd amendment to prevent effective restrictions on gun sales to protect the populace they have been elected to represent. At almost 17, I vote in a little over a year. Any representative that does not reject NRA money — on the left or right — and, does not work to create effective gun control reform, I will not vote for in the future. The youth of the country is fed up, watching, and we will hold you accountable for the choices you make today.”
- Chris Diamond
“As most of us have, allow me to express my condolences to the victims of the Parkland, FL school shooting on Valentine’s day. As many people know, this shooting was a tragic event that could either have been entirely prevented or casualties limited by implementing simple gun control measures. People undoubtedly have an individual right to a gun; that’s a right guaranteed by the 2nd amendment, but our politicians have to understand that it is not an unlimited right. Just like you can’t make threats of violence against somebody, even at the expense of your free speech, it shouldn’t be legal to buy a weapon of mass murder. Most people in the country understand this and agree, but the Republican party has been so awash in the NRA’s bribes that they won’t do the right thing. After Sandy Hook, this country did nothing. After Charleston, nothing was done. Orlando amounted to a 15-hour filibuster by Sen. Murphy, and the Republicans blocked everything. The Las Vegas shooting amounted to a bill that Congressional Republicans killed. Hell, the Republicans didn’t do anything after their own Congressmen were shot. This time will be no different until Democrats, activists, our fellow citizens, and we force the Republicans to the right position. There were 14 dead teenagers last week; 14 dead people who had their whole lives ahead of them. 20 first graders died at Sandy Hook; 20 dead children barely old enough to go to school. President Obama wasn’t able to or didn’t do anything during his terms, and I give him the harshest of criticisms on this issue. President Trump had to deal with Las Vegas and now Parkland. President Trump, show me that you care; show me that you are not contempt with dead children. You called for a ban on bump stocks. Good. Now call for a ban on the most dangerous weapons because this for the sake of human morality, this country cannot be content with another dead child.”
- Kevin J.H. Lee
Dear Students and Faculty of Stoneman Douglas High School,
You have inspired an entire generation: even across the coast, your strength has motivated us to encourage change in our community. As passionate high school students, we stand with you. Your political awareness and activism will prevent more innocent lives from being lost. In our community, your stories will never be forgotten, your ordeal will never be another statistic, and you will always have more than our “thoughts and prayers” — you have our solidarity. From the Harker Eagles to the Stoneman Douglas Eagles, we want you to know that we value the lives and memories of Alyssa Alhadeff, Scott Beigel, Martin Anguiano, Nicholas Dworet, Aaron Feis, Jaime Guttenberg, Chris Hixon, Luke Hoyer, Cara Loughran, Gina Montalto, Joaquin Oliver, Alaina Petty, Meadow Pollack, Helena Ramsay, Alex Schacter, Carmen Schentrup, Peter Wang, and all the other students and faculty over our government’s irresponsible sanction of weapons.
Sincerely,
The Students of The Harker School
“We need both mental health and gun reform now. We’ve continued to sit idly by mass shooting after mass shooting and nothing is being done to protect us: the youth, the next generation. Just last year, my own school had encountered a shooting threat and we went into a lockdown — it was terrifying and eye-opening. The time for reform is now. We need to recognize that these mass shootings aren’t the result of a gun issue or mental health issue, but rather a combination of issues that aren’t mutually exclusive. We also need to acknowledge that the evil in this world won’t simply disappear. But through gun regulation, through better mental health services, maybe, just maybe, could we save a few more lives and make our schools safer than they currently are.”
- Hunter Hinson
“Gun reform is something that has never been stressed in America. It is one of the most important topics of this era. It comes down to the debate over the Constitution and the Second Amendment, which was realistically meant for war time preparation. Therefore, people should not have things like assault rifles because we see things like Columbine, Sandy Hook, and the most recent shooting in Florida occur. It is time that we as a nation come together to put an end to gun violence through proper gun reform. This gun reform could entail many things — such as increased background checks that focus on mental health, increased control of what types of weapons can be bought and for what purpose or just simply increasing the age limit from 18 to a more suitable age limit. It’s things like this that can help deter the issues we are having today. We should always be prepared and willing to take the first step before more lives are taken, before more families are broken, and before another day of sadness gets recorded in the history of America. What we shouldn’t do is arm our teachers who already have so many burdens and we should not remain complacent. For America is plagued by greed, corruption, and most important and unfortunate of all — ignorance. We need to take charge of our futures and face ignorance and bigotry head on.”
- Weesam Chehab
“I was born in 2000, one year after the Columbine shooting. My generation grew up doing lock down drills and learning what to do in active-shooter drills. School is a place to learn, it shouldn’t be a war zone. Students shouldn’t be scared to go to school. Gun control can help make sure guns aren’t going into the wrong hands. It can limit the number of school shootings. We should be willing to do anything for students. We should be willing to do anything for innocent lives.”
- Karen Orona
“18 school shootings. We’re not even two whole months into the new year, and 18 school shootings have occurred. Now, this commonly quoted statistic may not be as accurate as many think. However, even one school shooting this year is too many. The United States is the only developed nation that faces this terrible problem. From Columbine to Sandy Hook, hundreds of students have been killed due to gun violence at schools throughout the years. Threats against schools have been on the rise, especially after the recent events at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. At my own school, no actual threats were made, but there was quite a scare regarding remarks made by a fellow student just a few days ago. You never think that such a thing could happen to you, but any school could be next. No student should be afraid to go to school. Nobody should be afraid to go about their daily lives. Our current gun laws are not sufficient. How many more students need to die before the government understands this? Lawmakers must quickly take action in order to prevent future shootings. People’s lives are now at stake.”
-Michael Goerlitz
“On Wednesday, February 14, 2018, I spent a normal day at school. I laughed with my friends as students carried giant teddy bears for Valentine’s Day around and while bullets were flying at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, I was sitting in English class discussing William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. As our discussion came to a close, I opened my laptop and per my usual habit, checked CNN. The homepage loaded and instead of the typical political chaos and Olympics updates, I saw the first reports of a shooting at a high school in South Florida. The article said the reports were not confirmed, and I closed my laptop hoping for the best. I went to dance and taught my weekly ballet class as if it were a normal day. Then, I checked my phone and saw the AP news report confirming that seventeen people were dead in Parkland, Florida and that a former student of the school had murdered them with an AR-15 in a matter of six minutes. My heart dropped into my stomach and I went to bed that night feeling empty and helpless. We held a moment of silence at Pensacola High School the next morning for the seventeen victims, but this was not the most chilling moment of first period that morning. It was our code red drill. It was watching my classmates sit under counters in my Spanish classroom and watch Snapchat videos from the shooting. It was hearing the door rattle and feeling so vulnerable sitting there, waiting. Last week, three schools in my district went either shutdown or went into code yellow operations due to social media threats. Multiple students have been suspended for pretending as if there was a school shooter on campus. While Stoneman Douglas students like Cameron Kasky, David Hogg, Emma González, Sarah Chadwick, and Jaclyn Corin were protesting in Tallahassee, students in my classes were making jokes about school shootings and complaining about student activists. At first, I assumed nothing would change after this shooting. But then, I began to notice the signs that this one was different. Instead of hashtags like PrayforParkland, almost immediately I saw trends like #NeverAgain, #Enough, and #StudentsDemandAction. The students themselves whose friends and family members had been killed or injured were speaking out in favor of gun control legislation and against government officials controlled by the NRA. Emma Gonzalez, Cameron Kasky, David Hogg, Jaclyn Corin, Sarah Chadwick, and Chris Grady, among other Stoneman Douglas Students, are speaking out with unprecedented passion and eloquence. They are calling for more comprehensive background checks and they are demanding that change happens now. They are asking the tough questions and reminding the nation that change will come when politicians that stand in its way are voted out of office. This is what change looks like.”
- Lauren Hagy
“As a student at a small, tight knit school, our academic success is contingent on trust. Trust between faculty members and students, trust with the values of the school, and above all, trust that our open community won’t be threatened. The final of these trusts, though, have been at the forefront of student concerns since the Parkland Shooting, as for the first time, the cycle of coverage and pervading theme of danger simply isn’t disappearing. From conservatives to liberals, students are scared that their safe place could be next. And if their school is in fact next, no amount of political apologizing will erase the trauma or fatal consequences of a shooting. We, as a society, must understand that gun owners and control advocates can coexist with common sense reform. Reform won’t “take away guns” but it also won’t “take away lives.” In the aftermath of a tragedy where I can see students who look like me face gruesome shootings that are so unlike our American values, it’s time for change.”
- Christopher Maximos
“I live in a very unstable, politically sensitive town that has been on national news numerous times. The image of an active shooter wreaking havoc has crossed my mind constantly, and I know I’m not the only one. In a town that overwhelmingly opposes gun control, the ambiguity of the possibility of a tragic situation is ten times worse. I shouldn’t have to think about this — nor should any, let alone every, child in our country when we have the ability to change it. Our hobbies are not worth it. The day we put our weapons above our children is the day that we lose a sense of humanity that distinguishes America from any other nation.”
- Julia Coccaro
All of us are students. All of us walk the halls of our school in fear. All of us know what it’s like to hide under our desks when a lock down drill is announced in the intercom. All of us know what to do if the threat of a gun arises. But, we shouldn’t be desensitized to these drills and fears. They are not to become part of our school routine; they are meant to remain as extreme, unlikely and abstract. Yet in our current situation, they’re noting but normal and expected.
We are ready to fight for the necessary change that America needs to embrace in regards to gun control. We are ready to be activists and we are ready to implement change. We are “The Progressive Teens” and our voices matter.
