Whether or not you find yourself aligned with the left or the right side of the spectrum maybe just maybe a walkout shouldn’t be on your offensive list; and here’s why.

At some point we have to be honest with ourselves that there is a problem with gun violence-and I’m trying to be neutral here! Even if you don’t believe the gun laws themselves are to be blamed, you have got to admit to yourself that there is a problem at least somewhere. It’s a very complex issue and I definitely won’t get too into that here because finding the root of the problem was not the point of this article.

As many of us know, this past Thursday was the “walkout to end gun violence” or the “walkout in honor of those 17 who were silenced”. And while most were proud of the social activism displayed by the nation’s youth, some had other thoughts.

Now, I understand that the walkout was about both things above-gun violence as well as honoring those who lost their lives in Florida, but for the sake of addressing some of the problems people found with each, I’ll treat them as separate versions.

The Walkout in Honor of Those 17 Who Were Silenced

You’d think something as harmless as honoring those who lost their lives would be widely appreciated, but I guess not. Some argued that ONLY honoring those who were killed in Florida was a problem considering there were other people who were killed in other mass shootings that should have been recognized as well. Other argued that honoring their deaths while pushing a political agenda was disrespectful on its own. I’m not sure if I have any type of problems with these complaints because in some way I can sort of see where they are coming from.

The Walkout to End Gun Violence

Okay, so this one people found a bit more offensive. A lot of people were upset that people believed participating in a walkout was going to stop gun violence. I myself heard some people say things that were a bit uncalled for. My problem with this is argument is I don’t think anyone believes a walkout would stop gun violence and honestly if you did, you’ve got bigger problems than worrying about gun violence. But where do people find the need to be disrespectful here? I thought it was all about being one as a nation and showing that we stand together to better society.

I’m definitely not one who believes guns should be taken away and I don’t believe guns should be just handed out to anyone either, but to say that there is no way to stop the violence so why do anything about it is a bit absurd. “Why walkout when it’s not going to do anything”. Is this not the first step?

My main point here was simply why do we have to be so against ideas just because we believe that there is no solution so why even try? There’s no point in being against things just because we are afraid of the results either. In the end we have found ourselves amidst a change, and no one can deny that.

Senior Alissa Alvarez believes the walkout was “necessary to make a statement” and “even though it was something that was so little, it had such an impact”. When it came to the people who believed the walkout was pointless she said “everyone is entitled to their own opinion”.

I’m not sure if it was the fact that people who support the 2^nd amendment felt threatened somehow or if people just didn’t think a walkout was going to solve anything, but either way, there were some who had some pretty loud opinions about why this event would have no significance in the end-and I’m not here advocating that it will make one. So let’s clear that up.

No-a walkout is not going to stop gun violence.

No-a walkout is not going to change the gun laws of society.

But you know what a walkout can do? It can bring together the nation in hopes of a better future.