After going through the trauma of losing 17 of their fellow classmates and snapping back with one of the largest youth-led protests in US history, Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School students are greeted back at school with clear backpack regulations and new IDs.
A little background on the situation—Nikolas Cruz entered Marjory Stoneman Douglass High school in Parkland, Florida and killed 17 students and faculty using an AR-15. For this specific gun, an AR-15, is easily able to be purchased, with no waiting period in Florida… even with the continuous use of them in several recent mass shootings. Weeks after this tragedy occurred, the students of MSD led a March for Our Lives rally in Washington DC using the hash tag #neveragain. Not only did they hold their own rally, several high schools across the nation held their own rallies to push the issue of gun control into the light of the media.
Heading back to school after a week of spring break, MSD students are greeted with the regulations of clear backpacks and new IDs, which they are required to wear at all times. My first thought about the clear backpack was for the females of the school. Although this clearly isn’t the biggest issue with clear backpacks, I remember being a high school female trying my best to hide my tampons/pads when I had to use the bathroom during that lovely time of the month. There is no privacy whatsoever, many students saying it takes away from their individualism.
Many students feel as if they are being punished or entering a jail every time they go into their school. The students pointed out that Nikolas Cruz, the shooter, was not a member of their school during the shooting. So these new rules of clear backpacks, seemingly targeting the students, would not have changed the outcome of anything if they had been in place prior to the shooting.
Although the regulations are being put in place to help make Marjory Stoneman Douglass high school students feel “safer,” no one is going to feel safe for a while in the city of Parkland, Florida. These regulations are only causing more stress on MSD students, something they already have enough of.