The
Parkland shooting was the spur of the huge and honestly quite successful march campaign
“March For Our Lives”. Some of these students met up in a living room, planned
and talked strategy. And consequently created a D.C. march that gained a lot of
attention. Over 200,000 people attended, including celebrities and influencers.
This
shooting did traumatize these high schoolers, but they are not just going to
sit idly by. They want action, and they want it now. They do not want to just
be seen as victims but as advocates for gun policy change, safer schools, and
showing care of children as well as those who face gun violence every day.
The
stories they shared did not hide any of their pain. They used a photo and the
video to demonstrate that this was a raw and authentic take of what happened to
them. No one can fake feelings such as these. Watching your friends get shot,
injured and even die at this very young age is unacceptable, but it has been
normalized. There have been more students shot in schools than soldiers getting
injured/dying since 9/11.
The
story I watched and read was about the three most popular advocates for this
campaign, students Emma González, David Hogg, and Cameron Kasky. They spoke in
the interview with 60 Minutes that
after taking on being outspoken anti-gun violence activists that they are now
subjected to getting death threats. But instead of focusing on this they
concentrated on their march. They did allow help from adults when it can with
permits, hotel rooms and other things that 18 year olds cannot do. But when it
came to their mission and voice it was them calling the shots.
If
there were none of these stories, or if these speeches were not given there
would be no campaign or march. This campaign literally revolves around the
shares of current and past experiences of gun violence through the website,
vocally and through social media.
I
think this campaign uses at least three of the Six Moral Foundational Values:
1. Care/Harm: the stories talk about how that they do not feel safe in their own schools, and after the experience they do not feel as safe as they used too. Feeling safe and a sense of security is a fundamental human need. The government is not meeting their needs to feel safe, hence why they are advocating for gun control.
1. Care/Harm: the stories talk about how that they do not feel safe in their own schools, and after the experience they do not feel as safe as they used too. Feeling safe and a sense of security is a fundamental human need. The government is not meeting their needs to feel safe, hence why they are advocating for gun control.
2.
Liberty/Oppression: Some can say that this campaign is taking away their rights
and liberties as a free American to do as they please. But the campaign isn’t
asking for all guns to be taken away. They want there to be better and safer
standards when it comes to purchasing a weapon. Even hunters who use guns
partook in the march explaining that they want the same thing because no one
needs an AR-15 to go hunting. Not only is it way too easy to purchase a gun and
bring it into environments like a school, but guns are used on minorities all
the time making them feel oppressed.
4.
Loyalty/Betrayal: These children feel betrayed by the government and feel as if
they do not care about their lives. They would rather save the guns and keep
their money rather than spend more money on their protection.
This was a
very active and knowledgeable initiative. And hopefully after being persistent
and strong there will be more change.
No comments:
Post a Comment