Source: wikimedia common
On Wednesday, March 14, 2018, hundreds of thousands of elementary, junior high and high school students walked out of their classrooms in a protest against gun violence in schools. This nationwide protest was specifically triggered by the Parkland High school shooting in Florida where 17 innocent individuals lost their lives. Parents, teachers, and students are outraged and scared that school shootings are becoming the norm to the point that school shooting drills are practiced in classrooms and there has been recent talk about arming teachers with guns. Regardless if you are “pro-gun” or “anti-gun”, as humans, we should all be alarmed that our children are now protesting this issue by walking out of schools and organizing marches because they feel that their lives are in jeopardy. This national walkout day is proof that our young children are scared and fighting back, in any way they possibly can. As a child born in the 1980’s, school was never always fun. I, myself, like many other children were bullied to the point that I didn’t want to go to school on some days, however, I never once felt unsafe. The thought of being shot by a gun or physically harmed by any type of weapon, never even crossed my mind in my wildest dreams and I am confident that my parents never laid awake at night for one moment pondering whether or not their child will have to practice school shooting drills or how they, as parents, are going to bring this issue up at the dinner table. Bullying does result in severe mental and emotional anguish and has resulted in too many suicide attempts and lives lost but gun violence in schools has also taken too many lives and as a result, children have taken a stance. This controversial school walkout posed many questions, and like any other political issue, has raised many fair arguments on both sides of the political coin.
Source: pxhere Questions to ponder
- Did this teach children the importance of standing up for a cause?
- Did students use this national walkout just as an excuse to ditch class?
- Are young elementary school children even capable of making such a decision?
- Can an eight-year-old child really have an opinion on gun control?
- Should we commend our children for speaking out?
- Did this political uproar actually do anything besides create pandemonium?
- Did children lose valuable learning time?
- Is this a positive way to give our children a voice?
- Are our children becoming future leaders by taking a stance?
- Did this day instill more fear in our children?
Brain studies reveal that even a 21-year-old is not fully capable of decision making
There are not many concrete evidence-based answers to these important questions however there are many opinions. In all the questions and arguments that have circled within every news outlet and every social media debate, there is one fact that I keep going back to in relation to the question, “Are young elementary school children even capable of making such a decision?” There is ample evidence regarding brain maturation and decision making in both children and adults, and I am pretty confident this very important piece of evidence has not been brought up in any of these heated arguments. In terms of studies, it is true that a child’s brain is not fully developed at 8-years-of age and as a result, their decision-making skills are not yet concrete however neither is a 21-year-old adult’s brain. The main difference is that a 21-year-old adult is given the right to bear arms, drive a car, purchase alcohol and vote. According to one of many studies, “The frontal lobes, home to key components of the neural circuitry underlying ‘executive functions’ such as planning, working memory, and impulse control, are among the last areas of the brain to mature; they may not be fully developed until halfway through the third decade of life”. So, yes, an eight-year-old may not be able to fully make an executive decision or have full control over their impulses, but neither can a 21-year-old, a 28-year-old or possibly even a 32-year-old. Wisdom sure does come with age.
Source: wikimedia commons Loss of productivity or gaining the respect of our country?
Students whether 8-years-old or 15-years-old are scared and when young individuals feel scared and violated, should they have a right to speak up? Or should they be silenced because they are just “children”? Another important aspect about this student walkout was that many of these students will be of voting age in the upcoming mid-term elections this year and many more will be of voting age for the next presidential election, which will be monumental in present-day American history. Contrary to popular belief, this was not a glorified “ditch day” in a sense where students were allowed to leave campus, in fact, many school administrators allowed students to protest on school property to ensure they did not leave school for the day. The protest was planned to be 17 minutes long, and yes, many students went over this allotted time, but as adults should we frown upon this? How many of us take longer lunches than usual on the clock? In fact, many studies have shown that the average employed adult works two hours and 53 minutes out of a paid eight-hour workday. The rest of the time, most employees spend on a combination of reading the news, browsing social media, eating food, socializing about non-work topics, taking smoke breaks, and searching for new jobs.
Source: wikimedia commons The brain is not able to function at full capacity for eight hours and with attention spans becoming shorter and shorter, people will do anything to take a break from their task at hand. So if students walked out for 17 minutes, or even for an hour to protest an issue that has become the root of our educational system in America, did they really lose out on “learning time”? Or did they gain an instrumental experience where they were able to practice the First Amendment, come together as a community, and start a nationwide movement that may or may not have any effect on the House or the Senate, but sure had an effect on the American people, as a whole?