Thousands of high school and college students across the nation walked out of their classrooms in honor of the victims murdered in the mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14. The walkouts also called for safer schools and stronger gun control legislation. These protest represent the power and influence young people have to change our world. Every participant in the walkout is creating a movement throughout the nation.

As a result, Twitter feeds exploded with footage on both high school and college campuses. Guilford College decided to partake in this national walkout and posted an image on Instagram, which resulted in some backlash. People began to question whether this was ethical, or whether it was a marketing department trying to take advantage of a tragic event.

I believe our student body who did participate in the walkouts wanted to honor the victims and stand against gun violence. Why would all of those students walk out if they were not standing up for something they deemed important? Students filed out classrooms quietly without uproar, so what is the problem?  Other schools walked out except most had signs or chanted things such as “Not in our schools! Not in our streets!” University of Wisconsin Madison students went on to the state capital to protest.

Our College didn’t participate all because it was the national school walkout day, but we participated because it meant something to us. 

When regarding Guilford’s Instagram post, we are known to post on social media when something important happens on campus supporting a cause. The picture posted on Instagram showed our student body gathered with each other to reflect on the tragedy. It was just a generic photo just like other schools who posted theirs.

President Jane even took to her blog stating, “After all, standing up to speak out in the name of Guilford’s Core Values is what our students have been doing for 180 years. We are proud of how our Guilford students and alumni are creating positive change. And thankfully, more help is on the way. I see great promise in today’s high-school students as they rally together to take a stand. They represent the coming Guilford Edge generation, a remarkably bold and determined group of dreamers, doers and difference makers.” I agree with Jane that Guilford students represent all of those things, and it is our job to promote activism for what we believe in.

On April 20, there is another national school walkout planned. If Guilford participates we will be proud to take a stand again.