Across the country, peaceful marches took place Saturday to raise awareness about gun violence in America. In Soldotna, too, dozens turned out for the March for our Lives.
Patience from young Millenials about America’s struggle with gun violence is wearing thin. That’s evident from not just how quickly this current movement has grown since 17 high school students were gunned down in Florida last month, but also how ready these kids are to engage in the process that they hope will produce positive changes.
Soldotna high school senior Selby Hill marched in Soldotna Saturday, with a sign that read ‘please excuse the inconvenience, we’re trying to change the world.’ Marching alongside her was Eve Downing, a sophomore at SoHi. Her sign read ‘Not one more. #enough’.
“We’re all out here to change the world, help out kids because this is a big deal,” Hill said.
“We’ve just seen a lot of gun violence in schools across the nation and I think a lot of us in schools are really worried about our safety,” Downing said. “And people, youth especially, are beginning to see that their voices do matter. It does make a difference. We just really want change to happen to make it a safer place to go to school and acquire an education.”
Both Hill and Downing say that watching events unfold over the past couple weeks has inspired them to learn more about how to engage in the political process, and they’re well aware of how quickly a well-timed message can go viral and reach millions the way Stoneman Douglas survivor Emma Gonzalez has.
“One girl, her voice can change so many lives,” Hill said.
“I think one of the issues is that a lot of youths feel like they’re being told their opinions aren’t well formulated or they’re not valid because they don’t understand how the government or process involved works,” Downing said.
“But I really think it’s done a lot to show youths that they might not know all the intricacies, but they do understand that change needs to happen.”
Statistically, schools remain relatively safe places. But with each new tragedy, they feel less so. And while school shootings have provided a context for a new round of debate, these students understand that it’s about the broader issue of gun violence that happens everywhere in America and at rates much higher than other developed nations.
“A lot of people are talking about it,” Hill said. “It’s one of the main topics sometimes. If we’re sitting around a table and it comes up, we’ll talk about it for 30 minutes.”
“A lot of time, it’s constructive, not just people shouting at each other,” Downing said. “It’s really trying to come to a solution that helps everyone.”
And although teenagers seem to be taking the reins as more people seek changes to gun laws, marchers in Soldotna Saturday ranged in age from 6 months to 93 years. Brent Johnson falls somewhere in the middle.
“I want to see the country find something sensible so that...people don’t get killed. We could do it like the U.K., where they have 1/50th the gun deaths we have. Just an idea.”