Following the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, numerous student bodies at schools across the country have taken it into their own hands to call for gun reform. Students are planning National Walkout Days, as they continue for school shootings to “Never Again” happen.

I believe these walkouts are a great thing. I’m not saying this because I believe in gun control,  I’m saying this because young people are standing up for what they believe in. And their voices are being heard. President Donald Trump has felt the heat after this shooting, and has pushed for tighter gun reform, which would ban bump stocks and make the legal age to purchase an assault rifle 21.

The walkouts in schools and the marches held by students and anyone who supports them shouldn’t be looked at as a bad thing. This shows that when people come together, they can get things done. This shows that the future is bright. This shows that the students of America are willing to stand up for what they believe in, and it is young people who will be running this country one day. Of the 30 deadliest mass shootings in the United States since 1949, 19 have occurred in the last 10 years, according to CNN and Fox. That means that since the time I was eight years old, I have turned on the news or opened social media 19 different times to find the news of a gunman shooting people down in mass. People my age have grown up in this America and should be the ones searching for reform, for the sake of us and our country’s future. We have grown up in an era unlike any other, and have a mindset that some will never be able to understand.

The fact that these walkouts are happening all over the country also gives students the courage to stand up speak for what they believe in. It takes immense courage to be the first student to stand up and walk out of your school, but after that first person stands up, the second one will get up a little faster, and the third, and the fourth. These walkouts give students hope. They help students realize that there is hope for the end of these massacres. They help students realize that if we band together, we can get a lot accomplished. We are the future of this country, and the future of this world. So, if and when Blue Springs South has a walkout, those who believe in gun control will take a walk on out the doors, those that don’t will not. Either way, stand up for what you believe in, but please do so in an orderly and safe fashion.