By Maggie Foight We’ve had enough. Across the country, we high schoolers are fed up with our government taking no action in any direction. We are tormented, angry and, quite frankly, done with letting our generation suffer in more ways than one because nothing is being done. But, we don’t have the power to actually change policy ourselves. Or do we? At 10:00 A.M. on March 14, 2018, Women’s March Youth EMPOWER is calling for a national school walkout -- 17 minutes long at a centralized location for the 17 lives lost on Feb. 14. Teenagers across the nation are getting involved, setting up events at their own schools, some even organizing them in the face of administrators that have threatened suspension if students participate. It’s supposed to call for gun control, more background checks and the likes, but honestly, to students across the nation, I think it means more than that. The movement has grabbed the attention of Wilson students, and there is a motion to get a linked event approved by administration so the Bulldogs can safely get involved. Nothing has yet been finalized. The whole situation is a tricky subject for students to talk about, even if they plan on participating in the event. Participation does not necessarily mean that such students support gun control -- however, for most students, it does mean they support change. Taking myself for example, I believe that while increased gun restrictions and more thorough background checks will make some improvements in regards to the arms issue, they won’t make the problem go away. Those with malevolent intentions will find another way, but constricting their access to such dangerous weapons will delay their plans and potentially limit their abilities. As for arming teachers, fighting fire with fire never works. Instead, we should be strengthening our school officer programs to make sure that those who didn’t sign up to fight the good fight don’t have to. Taking the mental health issue into consideration as well, it’s important to note how difficult it can be to properly diagnose disorders. Every case is different in its own way. Other students feel more conflicted on the issue and have explained to me how difficult they find it to talk about. Megan Dougherty, a fellow Junior, took a while to think. After a few seconds, she said cautiously, “I’m split on the issue; I wish the situation was black and white, but it’s not.” Another Junior, Cameron M. Cavanaugh, said, “You can’t ever predict these things.” Pausing a little, seemingly trying to formulate thoughts into words, he continued, “All schools are vulnerable; they [the attackers] would just find another way to carry out what they meant to do.” Regardless of your thoughts on the issue, I think we can all agree it’s time for change in some way. We’ve had #enough of delays; it’s time for all sides to come together to determine the best solution to a problem that affects us all. Photos Courtesy Of: Wikimedia Commons; twitter.com
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Elena Caputo
Hi! My name is Elena, and I'm a senior at Wilson and one of the Editors of the Editorial section. If you have any questions or ideas or if you want to write, email me at [email protected]! Olivia MonosHello! My name is Olivia and I'm a junior this year, and one of the editors of the Editorial section! I'm really excited to write for the Paw Print again this year!
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