The School Walkout

Today is the day of the nationwide school walkout. I saw multiple friends from my high school sharing videos of themselves participating. I hope that none of them will be upset when I say this.
Walking out of school is not a valid form of protest. It doesn't matter how many students do it, it doesn't matter how long it lasts. The only major group affected by it are your classmates, your teachers, and whoever runs the school. That's it. No one in DC cares if you stand silently in the school courtyard for and hour. The school walkout is good as a tribute to the lost students, but it is a fruitless form of protest because no one important can hear or see you. If you want to get the attention of the big guys, you have to scream. I saw a post yesterday of thousands of pairs of shoes, one for every lost student to a school shooting, on the White House lawn. THAT grabs attention. That gives imagery to the tragedy. And it's right in their faces.
You want to tell the big men how you feel? Write them letters. Flood their mailboxes. Give out your words, instead of holding them back. Let your thoughts be heard and seen. Don't stand silently in front of the school. March. March all the way to the Capitol and tell them how you feel.

And another thing: you think standing silently in the bus lot helps the kids who are alone? You think it helps the kids who feel so lost and broken that they feel like they need violence to get attention? No. No! We need to find those kids. We need to show them that we care about them. We need better mental health care. Too many students get lost in the heavy flow of school, in this system of perfect grades, perfect attendance, perfect everything. We are pushed to be perfect and the kids who can't do it get pushed aside. We say we try to help them, but do we really? Do we ask them if they study, or do we ask them if everything is okay at home? Do we ask them if they can focus okay, or do we ask them if they have a learning disability? Do we ask them if they skipped class for fun, or do we ask them if they needed a mental health day?

Are we asking students the right questions? Are we pushing them to the right answers?

So I'm going to ask you to go back inside your school. And on your way in, look for the kid who's alone. Walk up to that kid, introduce yourself. You don't have to become their best friend. You just have to show them that you see them.
And when you get home, sit at your laptop and write a letter. You tell the big guys in that big White House exactly how you feel. Don't hold anything back.
Teachers, ask your students to write letters, but don't force it upon them. Simply suggest it. Maybe even add some extra credit. Introduce the idea that if they have a problem, they should tell the person in charge directly.

This is not an issue that should be addressed silently. This is an issue that needs a top volume - crank it to 130, break all the windows.

Once again, I'd like to say that this is simply my personal opinion. I don't want to start an argument. I'm just speaking my thoughts.