Ever since the deadliest high school shooting in the U.S.’s history occurred on Feb. 14, student activists have rallied to make a change. Some of these efforts have manifested in nationwide student walkouts. Unofficial walkouts first sprang up in south Florida as high school students in school districts surrounding Marjory Stoneman Douglas made long treks from their schools to Douglas’ front gates. Most of these walks were over 10 miles long and completely student organized. The marchers toted signs voicing their upset, support for the survivors and many demanded gun control legislation.
Following the south Florida walkouts, a more official date was eventually set for a nationwide student walkout on March 14, exactly a month after the tragedy.
Courtesy: Taimy Alvarez, Sun Sentinel
These walkouts have stirred some controversy among parents and the general public. One countermovement has been started by the father of a victim of the Douglas shooting. Ryan Petty lost his daughter in the tragedy and has been socially active ever since. But, he disagrees with the school walkout approach. Petty made a post on his Twitter account urging students to “Walk Up Not Out.”
The post read:
“Instead of walking out of school on March 14, encourage students to walk up- walk up to the kid who sits alone at lunch and invite him to sit with your group; walk up to the kid who sits quietly in the corner of the room and sit next to her, smile and say Hi; walk up to the kid who causes disturbances in class and ask how he is doing; walk up to your teachers and thank them; walk up to someone who has different views than you and get to know them- you may be surprised at how much you have in common. Build on that foundation instead of casting stones. I challenge students to find 14 students and 3 adults to walk up to and say something nice in honor of those who died in FL on the 14 of March. But you can start practicing now! #walkupnotout”
The idea of approaching others who may feel like an outcast or lonely and trying to make friends with people you originally didn’t know is a nice sentiment, but this movement has stirred up controversy as many have said it is a victim-blaming ideology. Many argue that this idea suggests that students are responsible for mass shootings because they didn’t take the time to be nicer or befriend the quiet kid. The Walk Up Not Out movement improperly approaches mental health issues as something caused by students that must be fixed by students. The comparison has been made with the victim-blaming that often occurs with rape victims. She was wearing a short dress so she was asking for it; if she didn’t dress so provocatively than she wouldn’t have been raped. If kids were just a little nicer then the Parkland shooter wouldn’t have chosen to murder 17 students and teachers with an AR-15.
Courtesy: Amy Beth Bennett, Sun Sentinel
The kindness approach also seems to be linked with those calling for mental health reform rather than swifter gun laws restricting the sale of some firearms. However, the befriend the quiet kid method completely ignores the reality of mental illness. No one is going to be “cured” by some stranger they’ve never spoken to asking to sit with them at lunch. Especially if the person being approached thinks the student trying to befriend them is only doing so in an attempt to get in their good graces in case they shoot up the school. The Walk Up Not Out movement has the potential to ostracize those with mental health issues even more than they were before.
Others find issue with the Walk Up Not Out movement because of its intent to seemingly silence students. Walkouts are public and political, they intend to disrupt and demand change. Politeness is quiet and private, it allows the issue to be swept under the rug as it has been so many times before. Opposition to this movement does not resist against the idea that everyone could be a little bit nicer to one another but finds issue with the notion that kindness can be used in place of peaceful protest and legislative action.