On March 9, I spent two and a half hours in front of the Athens County Courthouse with my high school peers protesting gun violence and advocating for gun control measures to make our schools, and all of society, safer. I returned home feeling empowered and energized from the time spent chanting to raise awareness. I proceeded to review the coverage of the protest and was disappointed by the reactions of many older commenters on social media.
Some who posted comments assumed that the entire group of students who had congregated to protest had little understanding of what we were protesting. As a student who has researched the issues and listened to my fellow peers discuss these topics, I can testify that many of us have strong, informed views on what gun control in America should look like.
It is important to understand we came to this student-organized protest as a united group of students and independent thinkers. Our parents’ support is an integral part of making sure we can continue to organize and continue as this movement builds momentum. This movement, however, is not about them. It is about us.
Athens High School is lucky in that we’ve never experienced a school shooting, yet we are afraid for our fellow youth who will be in the next school shooting, because, inevitably, there will be another. We understand that there will always be “another” until change is made.
We are calling on adults who can vote and our politicians to hear our voices because, throughout history, young voices have been ignored. Older generations question the validity of our opinions because of our age.
We are young, but we are not ignorant. We must arm ourselves with facts and statistics in hopes of disarming any person who should not own a gun. The fact that we are protesting is a testament to our individual beliefs, not our parents’.
We need change, and we need to be understood. My peers and I are young, but when we unify for issues and movements such as this one, we can make a change. It is time to end gun violence in America, and our youth should not deny us the opportunity to fight for the changes we believe in.
Mary Myers is a sophomore at Athens High School.
