On May 4th, 1970, a congregation of students gathered on Kent State’s campus to protest the US invasion of Cambodia. The group believed that this military action was not only useless, but also unconstitutional, as it unnecessarily placed American lives in danger. During the rally, the national guard was called to maintain peace and civility; instead, they fired 67 rounds into the crowd. On that day in 1970, the government killed four innocent students and injured another nine. Almost forty-eight years later, students once again lay dead; however this time it was at the hands of a classmate.

Immediately following the tragedy that occurred only two weeks ago, American partisanism reared its ugly head, with both sides blaming the other in vain attempt to assert themselves over the opposition party. As politicians bickered over policy and celebrities tweeted their two cents about gun control, the students of the country have been rallying behind a single cause that everyone can get behind: an end to violence in schools. A core part of this movement includes the student walkout, where students are encouraged to walk out of school for seventeen minutes on March 14th- but various falsehoods threaten to undermine the true purpose of the movement and the walkout.

Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, the walkout is not meant as an anti-gun protest. Instead, it is meant to display the unified voice of students who are tired of senseless violence in a society which is desperately in need of an attitude adjustment. According to the New York Times, there have been at least 240 school shootings since the beginning of 2012, with 438 people being shot. In the past, neither children being killed nor the terribly horrific aftermath has been able to push our country past our petty differences in opinions on gun control. Our goal as a unified movement is to break this barrier and collectively shout that we do not care about political party, we care about our lives and the lives of those coming after us.

Recently, the movement has come under fire on several social media platforms, specifically on the movement’s Facebook page. The recurring complaint regarding the issue goes something like this: “The children should be in school learning, not walking out”. While students should get a proper education, learning comes through more than simply sitting at a desk. The walkout is an excellent chance for students to get real-world experiences; it exposes them to politics, and teaches them to appropriately and peacefully voice their opinion, something that much of America seems to be unable to do. In addition to this, the walkout gives students an opportunity to work together in a nation that stands divided and alienated, it allows students to coordinate to keep focused attention on school violence in an era when such school shootings too quickly become yesterday’s news, and it presents students an opportunity to accomplish something meaningful in a system that remains stagnant.

Like the Kent State students forty-eight years ago, the student body has not only the right, but also the duty, to protest. Regardless of the potential for punishment, this movement has grown, across schools and across the country. Join us on March 14, because regardless of whether it is at the hands of the government or at the hands of a student, murder is murder, and enough is enough.