After talking with numerous students and asking them their personal sentiments on not only the shooting in Parkland, but on the planned walkout and gun violence as a whole, a variety of opinions – both strongly swayed as well as generally neutral – were revealed.
Here’s a sampling of some of the things students at Oliver Ames have said on this issue:
“I feel terrible about what happened in Florida. I think we should raise the age to 21 and make it illegal to purchase an assault rifle in the public. I feel like people don’t need that I do believe in stricter gun laws but I believe everyone that’s mentally stable should have the right to own a gun for home protection or recreational use. I’m not doing the walkout because it’s a parade, I would walk out to respect the 17 people who died, however; this will have no political effect.” – Jack Lang
In response to this conversation with Jack Lang, Andrew Abramson commented on the fact that he believes the walkout can cause change…
“Every change that has ever happened in our world has started as an act of civil disobedience, and without civil disobedience and things like the walkout our world would not have undergone any of the progression we have accomplished.”
“Every change that has ever happened in our world has started as an act of civil disobedience”-Andrew Abramson
Students are quite divided in their viewpoints on gun violence considering the issues historical weight.
Niko Byron says, “The walkout is a joke. Does nothing, accomplishes absolutely nothing. Waste of time. Stricter gun laws are a joke because no gun has ever killed anyone. People kill people. I don’t understand why people are going after the NRA and repealing their sponsorship in spite of the fact that the NRA did nothing. There’s no such thing as gun violence. We need more funding on mental health. Why don’t we bring up the fact that planned parenthood kills more babies a day than AR-15s do in a year. I say we take the money being wasted on planned parenthood and put it to good use towards arming well-trained and mentally stable veterans and retired police officers. I along with many other students that agree would feel much safer at school.”
“Stricter gun laws are a joke because no gun has ever killed anyone. People kill people.”-Niko Byron
Similarly Ethan Eckstrom feels… “obviously the whole situation in Florida is horrible but guns are not the problem. People are the problem because they are responsible for pulling the trigger. What happened when the terrorists drove that van into a crowd and killed people? Did they ban cars and trucks because they have the potential to kill people? No they went after the terrorists. Yes maybe there could be stricter background checks for people buying guns, but guns should not be banned in any way because it is our 2nd amendment right to carry and id go as far to say that teachers should carry as well to stop this type of thing in the first place”
When asked about the walkout Chris Pearsons said “I think it’s a great way for students to exercise their opinion on this continuous problem in our generation. As of now school shootings are an ongoing cycle that won’t be stopped until real change is made, and what better way to send a message than having students voicing there discontent with the state of the world. I think it demonstrates just how powerful kids feel about the topic.” Following up about stricter gun laws Chris said… “There definitely needs to be stricter gun laws especially when it comes to automatic weapons. I won’t get into the politics, but I personally believe there should be an ex military officer, or specifically trained teachers who have a locked gun in case of emergencies. I know this can be considered fighting fire with fire, but it will prevent many lives from being lost, and personally would make me feel safer knowing that I don’t have to worry as much. I definitely see the other side of this argument, but in my opinion I think this would intimidate possible shooters and would not make me nervous at all.”
“As of now school shootings are an ongoing cycle that won’t be stopped until real change is made, and what better way to send a message than having students voicing there discontent with the state of the world”-Chris Pearsons
Regardless of one’s personal feelings toward gun violence and the tragedy it breeds in our nation, the strength in the viewpoints of students here at OA are valuable to be aware of.