Turning pupils into protesters

Is it my imagination or are children being used to promote an agenda? I don't think it's my imagination, and I don't like it. On March 14, students across the nation participated in school walkouts on the one-month anniversary of the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 innocents were murdered by Nikolas Cruz. Yes, students are rising up and speaking out.

But what are they rising up and speaking out about? Why did they walk out of their schools? Many adults are applauding, excited to see young people take action. There's definitely much to be said for doing something, but I'm of the mind that in most cases, the value of that something is measured by its effectiveness.

Many of these students were focused on the NRA and gun control. You could see it on the signs they carried. They got the message from those all too eager to brainwash them: "Guns are bad." "The NRA is bad." "President Trump is bad."

Let me say this: In some schools, the victims of the Florida shooting were honored: their names spoken, their biographies read. I respect that. Their lives were not in vain, and it is proper to remember them.

However, the walking out of school part? I noted on social media that such action would not have gone over in my house when I was growing up; my aunt Mary would have tore me up, I said. I expected a comment or two about the First Amendment, and I got it. My response? Children didn't have First Amendment rights in my family; children did what they were told -- which is how it's supposed to be. Imagine me pulling out a First Amendment justification! In any case, the same First Amendment that some cite to justify children's walking out of school gives this adult the right to call bull -- mostly on these adults who are using these kids. And some students were reprimanded or shamed if they chose not to participate in the walkout. I guess the First Amendment argument only fits if it...well, fits the agenda.

Though some adults are well-meaning, too many are not. They aren't interested in helping young people think reasonably; they're interested in helping young people think like they think, so they twist facts and spew propaganda. This is among the highest forms of child abuse. Children are not here to conveniently attack the NRA or the President of the United States on grown folks' behalf.

We are making professional protesters out of this generation. People want young people who can protest but not think clearly. They want young people they can brainwash to do their bidding and vote for them in elections. That serves their purpose. We see it now more than ever. "Walk out." "Hold a sign." "Make noise." Everywhere you look, someone is protesting. So yeah, "Let's get the kids involved." "Stick a mic in their face." "Give them some media coverage." Now, you've got them hooked. And at the end of the day, did anything they did make them safer? Did it yield results? I'm about results. Just doing something to say you've done something accomplishes nothing. But the goal for many is not results; it's exploitation -- and it's sad.

What these kids need to do with their First Amendment is respectfully speak to their school administrators and ask what the plan is to protect them. They need to inquire what has been done since Feb. 14 to shore up security. "How are we going to be safe if a Nikolas Cruz shows up here?" is one question. "Do we have good guys with guns here to take down a bad guy with a gun so we can all make it home?" is another question a rational student should ask. These are common sense inquires. Instead, they've been told to blame guns for evil people's actions. Instead, I saw a sign declaring the need for more gun-free zones -- as if a larger sign would have made Cruz leave the premises.

Then we have the Walk Up movement. Some opted to walk up, rather than out. This means they committed kind acts or befriended people or did uncharacteristically positive things for others. I like this better than the walkout, but this, too, is faulty. Why? Because it shifts the focus from the perpetrator of the evil act and the evil act itself to the victims of that act. It says what I heard well-intentioned people say after the tragedy: "What if someone had been kind to him?" "What if no one had bullied him?" "What if a classmate had tried to be his friend?" First, maybe all those things did occur; we don't know. Nonetheless, if I've said it once, I've said it a million times: Bullying is unacceptable, and schools that don't address it need to be held accountable. Unfortunately, however, someone will always bully someone. I detest it -- but it is, and it will always be. So as cruel as this sounds, if I'm a parent in the wake of this tragedy, I'm thinking, "My kid is not obligated to eat lunch with your kid. My kid does not have to say, 'Hello' when your kid walks by." Would I like him to? Sure. Will I teach him to? Absolutely. But if he does not, being shot to death in his classroom should not be the consequence. Therefore, after a tragedy where someone plans and carries out murder, shifting the focus to, "Let's be nice to people on this particular day" (which they should be doing every day anyway) shifts the blame from where it should be -- on the person who did commit the heinous act -- and places that blame where it should not be -- on people who did not commit the act, suggesting they need to change. I'm not saying they shouldn't be kind; I'm saying they shouldn't be murdered if they are not. I don't have a problem with kids walking up, and a special day dedicated to that is fine, but there's more to this than that, and it should be part of their daily lives. Couples celebrate Valentine's Day, yet if that's the only day a husband feels he can send flowers, the couple has a problem, and if he doesn't send flowers at all, he still doesn't deserve to be shot. So let's keep the blame where it belongs -- on the perpetrators -- and let's address the real issue; the rest of this stuff is just a whole lot of nothing.

Walking out is not the answer. Coerced walking up is not the answer, either. It's time to help children be rational in their thinking, stop using them to push agendas and, instead, give them the support and protection they deserve. Let's find real answers to real problems. Anything short of this is not only a disservice; it's despicable.

Adrienne Ross is owner of Adrienne Ross Communications and a former Southeast Missourian editorial board member. Contact her at aross@semissourian.com.