It’s Time for the Kids to be Heard

Social movements and protests have been around since the beginning of time. From the Civil Rights Movement, to Women’s Rights, to Gay Marriage, and the #MeToo Movement, people who feel their rights are being taken advantage of have stepped up and fought for what they believe. In the Civil Rights Movement, it was African-American citizens. In the Women’s Rights Movement, it was women and in the #MeToo Movement, it is celebrities, women of color, and women in the workplace alike stepping up to fight for their rights. In all of these movements, people of low-status were the one’s taking a stand. Those who were silenced began to say no more and use their voice. Those without power rallied together to start a movement that would change society for the rest of time. Now, after years of school shootings and gun violence, teens are using their voice to step up.

Many say that we are just kids. That because some of us cannot vote, cannot drive, cannot join the military, or cannot drink, we have no right to put our voices into the conversation of gun control. To all of those who say that, it is you who must listen. In school’s we are taught to use our voice and to speak up for what we believe in. We are taught about Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Martin Luther King Jr., and victims of sexual assault who come forward and although many do not want to listen at the time, they have made history. It is because people do not want to listen that we are going to make history. We are the future. We are the next voters, the next doctors and lawyers, the next politicians, and the next educators. We have decided what is important to us and we will not stop.

Look at the Parkland students and the movement they have started. Emma Gonzalez, Cameron Kasky, Alex Wind and the others are the leaders of our movement. In an interview with the Times, Cameron Kasky said “the adults know we are cleaning up their mess”. Since Columbine, through Sandy Hook, the Las Vegas shooting and the Pulse Night Club attack, people have been silent. Kids say no more. As parents and educators, be proud of the voice you have given your children or your students. As politicians, look at history and see how the oppressed created movements and this is ours. As a citizen, take note of the change that is happening. This is the future and we will not stop until we are heard.

By Sophia Blake

Survivors of Gun Violence

This is Luis Lopez. He was shot in Brooklyn at the age of 14, and he is now feature in Kathy Shorr’s photography project, ““SHOT: 101 Survivors of Gun Violence in America.” This project features survivors at the places they were shot, and Shorr was also a victim of gun violence.  She was held up at gunpoint in the in the 1980s, while carrying her infant daughter, and now she is dedicated to telling the stories of survivors. Several of the people were shot in New York, and they range from the ages of 8 to 80. “I thought I could bring a face and a voice to people who were basically statistics, whose stories might make the news for one day and then disappear, and have them represent the whole of America,” Shorr said, “because gun violence happens to everyone.”