This past Wednesday, February 14th, 2018, 17 students from Stoneman Douglas High School were shot and killed by expelled student and gunman, Nikolas Cruz.

The victims of this horrifyingly wicked act were Alyssa Alhadeff, Scott Beigel, Martin Duque Anguiano, Nicholas Dworet, Aaron Feis, Jaime Guttenberg, Chris Hixon, Luke Hoyer, Cara Loughran, Gina Montalto, Joaquin Oliver, Alaina Petty, Meadow Pollack, Helena Ramsay, Alex Schachter, Carmen Schentrup, and Peter Wang.

Many students of Stoneman Douglas saw Cruz as a threat. He found pride in showing off his guns and enjoyed abusing animals. At the scene, Cruz was armed with not only an AR-15-style rifle but also multiple magazines of ammunition.

Many members of Congress are now facing well-deserved pressure from the students and members of surrounding communities. Students of Stoneman Douglas traveled to Florida’s state capital seven days after the shooting occurred to plead for legislators to pass stricter gun control laws.  

A wave of action has been felt across the country, with this sad event being the catalyst for change.

Many adults see this movement as a joke and are choosing to not take the students seriously. Many memes have been created to counteract their movement towards progress.

I really don’t think it’s something to joke about, though. What these students are trying to prevent is school shootings from becoming the “new normal”. It pains me to say it like this, but this school shooting affected me more than the ones I normally see in the news. Having videos from the high school transformed me into a place of fear that I have never experienced before. All of this has led to me to conclude that the safety of America’s children outway anyone’s right to own a gun.  

There are many arguments out there saying that gun control would do nothing to solve the actual issue. What I believe is that even with this being a complex issue, it would be more than ignorant to not even try to do anything about the dilemma at hand.

We have the ability to bring about real change for the future of this country, we have to utilize the tools that we have right now to decide the fate of this country. Soon enough we’ll all be able to vote and become involved members of society, which gives us the opportunity to stand up for legitimate social change.

Students and faculty of Blanchet, it is up to us to be the change we want to see; fight for what you believe in.

There will be a “March For Our Lives” protest in Downtown Seattle on March 24th, I encourage everyone that sees this article to participate.