Reflection: March For Our Lives.

     As I think about everyone who marched for their lives, I wanted to first acknowledge and pay tribute to all the lives that have been lost through school shootings, and across the entire globe. One life is  and should never be valued more than another, weather it is a child sitting in a school in America feeling fearful for their life, or a child buried under rubble, because of a war crime. Everyone has an equal right and value to live and life as the other. However, what is different from Syria to the school shootings in the USA, is that Syria is in the midst of war, and the shootings in the schools are done in a nation where there is no formal declaration of war. Which does not make either right, but with no formal declarations of war, and tensions spurring from within, I think and wonder: Why should babies, children and teens have to March for their lives? What this question has revealed is that as a nation we have failed to protect vulnerable populations of children who want to go to school, to learn in a safe and secure environment, and we see them forced to take matters into their own hands, demanding action.

     While I do think that their is great power in student voice, I took the time to reflect as I saw the great emotions being poured. Real life stories have the ability to tell, impact, and create an effect upon another. The mass protests could even be viewed as populations trying to heal together. But when I see images of Parkland survivor Emma Gonzalez upon stage, her actions and reactions. I think of trauma, this is the traumatic effect that the school shooting has created upon her and other survivors. Once again while I do think that there is great power in student voice, we must be mindful that student voice, and experience does not become exploited or politicized, student voice should never be use as a political tool. I am sad because at this age students should have the quench, desire, and zest for living, enjoying life, but here we see a mass orchestration of a fight to live. What is happening, and why do school shootings continue? The March For Our Lives protests differ because it was student-led, and organized with the Everytown For Gun Safety non-profit. We could either be grateful that the students are putting forth the demands and raising awareness about school shootings, or think of the mass psychological trauma that has resulted from school shootings on display. 

May there be healing.
My thoughts to share with love & kindness.

Notes: These thoughts were originally hand-written on March 24th, 2018.
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