Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Barf. "Teens today" are also the ones responsible for a lot of these shootings-- not sure we want "the future of our nation" in the shooters' "great hands."

If they wanted to do something moving..... organize a trash pick up. Organize a campaign to write to lawmakers. Stage a peaceful "walk in" at a gun show ON A WEEKEND.

here's a fine line between supporting and endorsing. They crossed it.

I have spent 26 years raising children. I have always gone out of my way to make sure my kids don't miss any school. It's been hammered into our brains how every day/hour/minute of classroom instruction time is extremely important. Then they cave in to this and lose all credibility with me.

Suddenly, my Disney trip when the airline rates are low doesn't sound like such a bad idea after all.

Totally agree with both PPs.

Anonymous wrote:

np. There's only symbolism to WALKING OUT if it's in defiance of the established authorities. If it's encouraged, that's not actually a walkout. That's a recess.

The high school kids who went to DC yesterday are getting unexcused absences. Is that sufficient defiance for you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Equate missing days of school to go to an amusement park with missing less than an hour to participate in an historic protest?

Okay then.

This isn't an historic protest. Seriously no one will care next year. And, the protest could have been done on Saturday.

There is deep symbolism to WALKING OUT of school to commemorate a mass shooting DONE AT SCHOOL.

So no, it could not have been done on a weekend.

I can't think of any other protest that high schoolers might want to do en masse with such a close link to school. Nothing that schools would excuse, anyway.

np. There's only symbolism to WALKING OUT if it's in defiance of the established authorities. If it's encouraged, that's not actually a walkout. That's a recess.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Equate missing days of school to go to an amusement park with missing less than an hour to participate in an historic protest?

Okay then.

This isn't an historic protest. Seriously no one will care next year. And, the protest could have been done on Saturday.

Good luck getting any of these kids to show up on a Saturday. That would involve some level of effort.

They might commit to a Facebook status update, but that's about it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Barf. "Teens today" are also the ones responsible for a lot of these shootings-- not sure we want "the future of our nation" in the shooters' "great hands."

If they wanted to do something moving..... organize a trash pick up. Organize a campaign to write to lawmakers. Stage a peaceful "walk in" at a gun show ON A WEEKEND.

I'll do you the favor of taking your crass rebuttal seriously.

Many of these kids, including mine and most of her friends, will be at the DC march next weekend and at dozens of regional marches happening simultaneously.

They are also writing to and calling lawmakers, although for those of us who are DC residents, it's a moot point. (They'd probably have to write to Marco Rubio, who loves to play with gun laws in DC in order to raise his NRA rating, but obviously he won't listen to our kids.) What makes you think that they aren't also doing those things?

For obvious reasons, it wouldn't be safe for teenagers to protest outside gun shows.

The same kids who are attending these marches and organizing these walk-outs are also the kinds of people who will become community leaders who "organize trash pickups" when they are adults.

Until that happens, any praise now is grossly premature.

So the kids were generally quiet and stood outside for 17 minutes.

And this principal is gushing such praise on them for that?

They did absolutely nothing. They gave nothing. They sacrificed nothing.

This is what passes for amazing accomplishment from our snowflakes today?

Anonymous wrote:Barf. "Teens today" are also the ones responsible for a lot of these shootings-- not sure we want "the future of our nation" in the shooters' "great hands."

If they wanted to do something moving..... organize a trash pick up. Organize a campaign to write to lawmakers. Stage a peaceful "walk in" at a gun show ON A WEEKEND.

I'll do you the favor of taking your crass rebuttal seriously.

Many of these kids, including mine and most of her friends, will be at the DC march next weekend and at dozens of regional marches happening simultaneously.

They are also writing to and calling lawmakers, although for those of us who are DC residents, it's a moot point. (They'd probably have to write to Marco Rubio, who loves to play with gun laws in DC in order to raise his NRA rating, but obviously he won't listen to our kids.) What makes you think that they aren't also doing those things?

For obvious reasons, it wouldn't be safe for teenagers to protest outside gun shows.

The same kids who are attending these marches and organizing these walk-outs are also the kinds of people who will become community leaders who "organize trash pickups" when they are adults.

DOE should investigate and done the schools

OP, I agree sleuth you completely.

HUGELY inappropriate for the principal to be saying that. At least at our school, the walk out was NOt supported by the principal.

That goes way across the line. Our public school leadership should NOT be blatantly supporting political propaganda like this. Barf, indeed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

So what do kids accomplish by not going to class?

At a minimum, they have kept the conversation about gun violence going. Evidence? This thread.

In high school? a TON. Half the school will be 18 the next presidential election, and they are not a demographic that votes in high numbers. If politicians see that they are organized and motivated and that the gun control is an issue that will get the registered and to show up to vote? They will start to be influenced. You better believe it.

Theoretically but it will have no effect bc it will happen in states that are already blue. I have nieces/nephews in the Midwest -- Nebraska, Kansas etc. -- NO ONE walked out. Their schools even said they wouldn't be punished and yet they didn't. Bc they grew up around gun culture and in their peers' eyes, voting in any politician supporting gun control is shooting your own self in the foot if you can't get the gun of your choice at 18. So this whole -- OMG it's SOOOOO important bc these kids will be 18 by Nov. -- yeah well those kids live in NY, MD. NJ, etc., places that are already blue. It won't even matter for purple places -- for every one kid in Pa. who is for gun control, there are 2-3 that are taking the first day of hunting season off to go shooting with their dads and ain't no way they want to elect someone who will take away/make it harder to get ANY kind of gun, whether they own that one or not.

My alma mater in Wisconsin had 750 kids participate in a walkout. I believe total student body is around 1200.

My alma mater in Ohio had a walkout too. And many schools in the area.

Anonymous wrote:

Seriously, these protests - the last one congress was not in session nor was anyone even probably on the hill. Sure, it looks and sounds good but gun control is just the tip of what needs to be done. Instead as parents we are ignoring the broader societal issues. If it was important to you your child participate, you take the day off work or what you were doing, sign your kid out and go to the protest with them. I find it interesting no parents seem to participate as it clearly wasn't important enough to them to take the day off to support their kids. Again, this goes back to lack of supervision, especially with the younger ones.

Lots of distraction in this. What about this? What about that? What about the other thing? If you really cared, you'd have [done a whole bunch of other stuff}!

This was one effort, by one group of people, to focus attention on one problem -- not the only effort ever, that anybody will ever do, to solve all problems ever, forevermore. If you think that people should focus on X by doing Y, then get to work to get people to focus on X by doing Y.

Additionally, these werent random protests, that kids are going to start having every week: it was a Naional Protest, as in all over the country, kids walking out to demonstrate that they want to be safe at school.

Anonymous wrote:
Seriously, these protests - the last one congress was not in session nor was anyone even probably on the hill. Sure, it looks and sounds good but gun control is just the tip of what needs to be done. Instead as parents we are ignoring the broader societal issues. If it was important to you your child participate, you take the day off work or what you were doing, sign your kid out and go to the protest with them. I find it interesting no parents seem to participate as it clearly wasn't important enough to them to take the day off to support their kids. Again, this goes back to lack of supervision, especially with the younger ones.

Your arguments are all over the place, above, but it doesn't matter.

These protests ARE having an effect. And the one on March 24th will have more effect.

Anonymous wrote:
I think the March in DC will show the strength in numbers these future voters have. Theynwill be voters by 2020 in huge numbers! We did not gomtomschool in world they have today. When elementary schools have shooter drills ( not called this in granddaughter's E'S by name), this is why the teens marching matters. I was in DC as a college student at GWU and remember quite well the marches of the late 1960 involving poverty, racism and the Vietnam War and public mobilization can matter.

And, we still have war, poverty and racism. So, sure, some things changed, we still have major cultural issues and marches aren't going to fully fix that.

Yes, I want my child's elementary school to do shooter drills so if it does happen, the kids know what to do. This is the world we live in now and the schools have the responsibility to teach them. We told our child exactly what they were for as the school waters down what they are for.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Equate missing days of school to go to an amusement park with missing less than an hour to participate in an historic protest?

Okay then.

sophisticated reasoning not a strength for some of these posters . . .

A walk out in support of safer schools. Compared to mouse ears.

Is it any wonder these kids don't think their concerns are being heard?

Disney has security, many schools do not. So, Disney is safer, in theory.

Its easy to just blame gun laws. Everyone keeps focusing on gun laws. Over the years we have had a big shift in deinstitutionalization for mental health but we hadn't done a lot with increasing outpatient services. Its near impossible to get a good psychiatrist who will accept insurance. Parents don't monitor what their kids are doing. How are these minors (who aren't going hunting with their parents) getting guns? If someone wants a gun, they will get one (I support stricter gun laws but don't think that is the primary issue). We have parents who allow their kids to be free range at 4-5-6 and then we wonder why they are acting up? Sure, some kids self-regulate and behave and others don't. But, as parents when you choose to have a child, you make a commitment to parent them (which means to the poster wanting to leave their 4 and 7 year old home alone to take a run, you should hire a babysitter). People have always been selfish, but in today's culture where kids have access to social media, easy access to drugs, guns (primarily as kids/families often have more disposable income) and alcohol, we need to keep track of where they are, who they are with and what they are doing. Schools need to do a better job with taking interest in all kids, especially those who get ok grades and aren't known for sports or stand out so if they need help they would be comfortable reaching out. Our high schools are so big with huge class sizes, its impossible for teachers to get to know individual students and many kids fly under the radar. We need to get more support for kids when they are younger. Instead of school systems fighting parents on private sn schools - help pay (we spend a fortune fighting parents with attorneys vs. paying), and provide the basics of speech, ot, and PT to what the child actual needs vs. in a huge group setting where no kid really gets help. Provide easy access to real mental health services in the schools. Provide access to medical, dental and vision care to those who need it in the schools.

Seriously, these protests - the last one congress was not in session nor was anyone even probably on the hill. Sure, it looks and sounds good but gun control is just the tip of what needs to be done. Instead as parents we are ignoring the broader societal issues. If it was important to you your child participate, you take the day off work or what you were doing, sign your kid out and go to the protest with them. I find it interesting no parents seem to participate as it clearly wasn't important enough to them to take the day off to support their kids. Again, this goes back to lack of supervision, especially with the younger ones.