5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT MARCH FOR OUR LIVES

WRITTEN By: Carmina Duarte

Cduarte15@yahoo.com

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, it seems that school shootings have become a common occurrence in our society.  In fact, according to Every Town Research Organization, since 2013, there have been more than 300 school shootings in America — an average of about one a week. Is this acceptable? Can we ‘as a society’ accept this as the norm? Or is it time to stand-up and demand change? This year we’ve had student-led demonstrations by March for Our Lives organizers, here's five things you need to know about this student-led movement.

1. What is March for Our Lives?

March for Our Lives is a demonstration created and organized by the students who survived the massacre on February 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The group of students organized marches on Washington, DC and multiple around the country demanding change⎯the March for Our Lives movement was born. The march was about students taking action and demanding change to get politicians to work towards tighter gun control.

2. Who started the March for Our Lives?

March for Our Lives was started by Parkland shooting survivors Emma González, David Hogg, Jacqueline Coren, Cameron Kasky and Alex Wind when they first announced the march during a series of interviews on February 18. Appearing on The Ellen Show, they discussed the rally and their mission behind it. "The thing that inspired us to create the march was people saying 'you're all talking about gun control and this is not the time to talk about gun control, this is the time to mourn,” said Cameron Kasky. "We understand that. And we said, 'Now might not be the time to talk about gun control. HERE'S the time to talk about gun control. March 24.'"
 

3. What is their mission?

March for Our Lives mission is to end gun violence at schools and save innocent lives across the nation. In their Mission Statement, march organizers write:

“Not one more. We cannot allow one more child to be shot at school. We cannot allow one more teacher to make a choice to jump in front of an assault rifle to save the lives of students. We cannot allow one more family to wait for a call or text that never comes. Our children and teachers are dying. We must make it our top priority to save these lives. We came together on March 24th and through continued unity, we will save lives. We will not stop our advocacy until we see the change we demand – a change that is necessary in order to save innocent lives across our nation.”

4. What do they hope to accomplish?

March for Our Lives hopes for politicians to address the issue of gun violence in American schools by implementing comprehensive gun control legislation. Specifically, they are working towards…

1. Universal, comprehensive background checks

2. Bringing the ATF into the 21st century with a digitized, searchable database

3. Funds for the Center for Disease Control to research the gun violence epidemic in America

4. High-capacity magazine ban

5. Assault weapons ban

5. Who’s supporting the movement?

March for Our Lives organizers have had many influential and number of celebrities support the movement. Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, George and Amal Clooney, Kate Capshaw, studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, all supported by pledging $500,000 for the rally. Aside from financial support by celebrity activists, other stars like Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Hudson and Common have participated by walking with students.

Many of the student activists involved with March for Our Lives have met with politicians, even though they have yet to meet with President Donald Trump. Should this movement be led by students? No…and they need our support in demanding tighter gun control because no child should fear going to school and for innocent lives to be taken away. Check out the March for Our Lives website to find out more information and support the movement.