Stand Strong, Parkland!

 

by Pa Rock

Retired Educator

The mass killing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, occurred four years ago today.  It was just one deadly school shooting among literally hundreds that have occurred in American schools over the last thirty years.  Seventeen students and staff were killed by a deeply troubled teen gunman, a significant number, but there had been even deadlier school shootings before the one at Parkland.

Parkland was unique.   The fact that it happened on Valentine's Day helped to cement the event into the public memory, and because the school served an upscale and well educated population, a quick response was generated from the school community that was more active and focused than reaction had been in many other communities which had suffered school shootings.

There seemed to be a determination born in Parkland to forgo the standard "thoughts and prayers" drivel, and instead generate a meaningful response - to get active, make some noise, and turn the heat on politicians to toughen gun laws.  Student and parent activists from Parkland lobbied the Florida legislature and Congress in an effort to keep the focus on the important issues of gun control and school safety, and they also held rallies nationwide to promote their causes.

Today, four years after the shooting at their high school, some parents and students are still active with the cause, and others are well into their college years but still maintaining ties to the Parkland activist community.   Bringing gun violence under control still seems to be a key focus of their lives.

The NRA has bleated and bellowed about the young activists from Parkland, trying to make them appear as spoiled brats and children of privilege who are just seeking attention.  Conservative news outlets like Fox have heaped scorn on them as people betraying their station in life, and bothersome insects like Marjorie Taylor Greene even spent time stalking and heckling one of the better known activists.

Usually school shootings, like bad memories, just fade away.  They happen with such frequency that is hard to maintain enough outrage to ever force any meaningful change.   But the people of Parkland, and especially the young people of Parkland, are still pissed off, and no amount of name-calling and intimidation from gun groups and right-wing zealots will ever force them to back down.  

The survivors of Parkland are still fighting the good fight, for themselves - and for us.  We need to be thinking of them today - and for all of the victims of gun violence - and letting them know that there are still people in the United States of America who believe in the sanctity of life and the right to live lives that are free of fear.

Thank you, Parkland, for standing strong for all of us!