After the tragic events that took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School with the death of seventeen students and faculty members on February 14, there has been national outcry. Lead by the awe-inspiring bravery of the Stoneman Douglas High school survivors, students, parents, school systems and people alike have been protesting all over the nation by participating in school wide walks outs, protests and calls for gun-reform. Among all the positive movements that have been brought to light by this difficult issue, there remains the undercurrent of ugliness, particularly among social media users as many adult social media users have taken to attacking the young leaders of this movement, particularly the survivors of the mass shooting that occurred at Stoneman Douglas High School. Now many of these kids have take the criticism gracefully, rising above the senseless taunts and cyberbullying brought upon them by adults twice their age. One such way to rise above was brought about beautifully by one particular Stoneman Douglas High School student Isabelle Robinson, with a little help from the New York Times.
Isabelle Robinson is currently a senior at Stoneman Marjory Douglas High School, and just recently worked with the New York Times to write an Op-Ed and to share her story and experience with the world, including her thoughts on the #WalkUpNotOut movement and her own personal experience with the school shooter Nikolas Cruz.
In her article which is entitled “I Tried to Befriend Nikolas Cruz. He Still Killed My Friends.” Robinson explains her first interaction with Cruz was five years before the shooting took place, while she was still in middle school. She had been eating lunch in the cafeteria with her friends when she felt a “sharp sudden blow” to her lower back. An apple had been thrown at her in the middle of the lunch table in full display of the crowded cafeteria. Robinson says she turned around with tears in her eyes to see Cruz standing behind her and as she explains it “his eyes were lit up with a sick, twisted joy as he watched me cry.”
She goes on to explain that this was not her last altercation with Cruz. The next year, now as a freshman in high school she was assigned to be his tutor through their school’s peer counseling program. During these weekly hour long session with Cruz, Robinson explains that she was “forced to endure his cursing me out and ogling my chest until the session ended.” Robinson describes that as a young girl she always had the deep seated desire to please others, something that lots of young people, particularly young girls feel as well. Yet despite this, the school knew he had a previous history of violence and brutality but still left her alone with him and without any adult supervision during their tutoring sessions.
This is where the #WalkUpNotOut comes in. The supporters of this movement argue that students should try harder to reach out with friendliness and compassion to their peers who may seem isolated, ostracized or alone. By moving out of their comfort zones and helping them feel more welcome, the theory goes, students could potentially head off angry impulses or an outbreak of violence.
Robinson encapsulates the thoughts and issues of this movement clearly as she states “ This deeply dangerous sentiment, expressed under the #WalkUpNotOut hashtag, implies that acts of school violence can be prevented if students befriend disturbed and potentially dangerous classmates. The idea that we are to blame for the murders of our friends and teachers is a slap in the face to all Stoneman Douglas victims and survivors.” The fact that others are blaming survivors for the actions of the agressor is a weak excuse for the failings of our government and our public education systems.
She goes on to say that the thoughts behind being welcoming and reaching out to students who may be in need of a friend is nothing but a good idea. However, students should not be expected to fix the issues faced by deeply troubled classmates or peers with genuine issues that make themselves a danger to others. This is something that we should not be expecting of students anyway, yet seems as if we are heaping this responsibility onto them among other tasks much too big for the shoulders of children and young adults. As Robinson states “The implication that Mr. Cruz’s mental health problems could have been solved if only he had been loved more by his fellow students is both a gross misunderstanding of how these diseases work and a dangerous suggestion that puts children on the front line.”
By putting these kids on the front line, and telling them to take the responsibility for the sometimes intense, unpredictable and borderline dangerous behavior of others, we are perpetuating the idea of victim-blaming, or that thoughts that these kids who have survived unspeakable acts of violence (in a place they are supposed to be safe) are to be held responsible for the death of their friends, teachers and peers. These children, these high school kids should be worrying about finals, college applications and prom. Not planning funerals, protests and grieving for their lost friends. We stand with Isabelle and the rest of her friends, classmates and fellow survivors, and hope for a day when we no longer have to say the words “survivor of a mass school shooting.” We should send our children to school to learn, not to be killed.
Read the rest of Isabelle Robinson’s incredible article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/27/opinion/nikolas-cruz-shooting-florida…
cover image source:https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/180216131300-isabelle-robinson-su…