NROP: We march for everything.

I am happy to say that during this weekend I caught up on reading a lot of new blogs, as well as posts by bloggers I already know. It was a busy one, and I did not get the chance to do everything I planned, but I am glad I managed to complete some of my “to do” tasks at least.

The truth is that after that month-long break, I am still out of rhythm when it comes to writing. In a way, it is like starting over again from scratch. Now I understand why so many people that take a break never really come back. But I refuse to surrender.

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When I was on my break, I did not seek out any world news. If anything major would have happened I would have been told, but because it had not (That is a good thing!), I spent a few weeks in a blissful state of ignorance. Coming back plunged me into the reality of ridiculousness. I opened a news site on my computer and the first thing I saw was marches for gun control. Shortly after, I read how some of the survivors from the latest U.S.A. school shooting suddenly became celebrities because of how outspoken and demanding they were on that topic. A few days later, we saw a march against racial profiling.

This post will focus on the general idea of protesting/ marching, and not really on the issues behind their origin. But before I move to discuss how I feel about kids participating in marches, let me just say that it is tragic that so many children were killed in a place where they come to learn about the world around them. These marches are said to fight for a solution that would prevent such tragedies from ever happening again. I do not think that banning guns altogether would fix the problem, but that is not the topic of the conversation at hand.

It is also unfortunate that a couple died in a car crash, orphaning six young kids. Long story short – ICE tried to stop a couple driving away from their home, but as soon as the officers exited their vehicle, the male and female sped away. They did not get far, because as you already know – they crashed and died on scene. They were both illegal immigrants from Mexico. The reason for the march is that ICE took that man for another one they were trying to arrest. People argue that racial profiling caused that tragedy. The thing is that it was NOT racial profiling. We use the word “race” erroneously nowadays. Ethnicity =/= race. “Mexican” is not a race, so no racial profiling there. Moving on to how I feel about all these marches that seem to be never-ending.

First of all, it sickens me that young kids are used to push the adult agendas. Yes, nowadays kids have easier access to worldwide news, but that does not mean that they are actually as informed as an adult should be. Their brains are not even fully developed yet. I think back to when I was 13-14, and I will admit that many of my then views are different from the ones I hold today. It is because I was just a kid back then. I did not submerge myself in the adult world of logic and arguments. What is even more important, I did not have as much life experience as I do today. Back then, I believed everything my parents said. (Well, maybe aside from Santa Claus. I think I found out the truth by then.) Their words were the holy grail. They simply do not know what they want and why. What they do know is what they hear and see from others around them. In today’s world, forming an independent opinion is even more difficult for kids, because they are a generation that uses social media 24/7. Twitter and Facebook are now the gold standards of truth. I do not blame them. They are overloaded with information that does not pertain to them. Most of the time, it is not something they are interested in, but it is still something they see. Be it a part of a news segment, or a video skit, or a celebrity tweet, etc. It engraves into their impressionable brains.

The second thing that upsets me about those protest/ march/ speak out is that they become famous overnight. Because we live in the era of social media, we can either be lynched or named a hero by people from around the globe in a matter of minutes. This is the generation that revives things like the “condom snorting challenge“. They will do everything for a “Like” or a “Retweet”. Becoming “insta-famous” is the goal. I think it is in bad taste to use such tragedies like school shootings, or car crashes as a platform for fame. I have to give kudos to these “activists” because they do know how to seize the moment, grab the opportunity, and create a name for themselves. That again ties in with what I said in the previous paragraph regarding these young people just being pawns in the adult game of chess. A school shooting happens and what do camera crews do? You would think they focus on the victims, but instead, they try to poach some survivors to fill in their narrative. Do not be fooled. These people are carefully selected before they are given any air time. These encounters are most often scripted, too.

While I know formal education is not perfect, I think that kids need it. It is a privilege not everyone has. There are many children hungry for food and more around the globe, but they might never even learn to read. In the meantime, American kids take it for granted. They seem to “know-it-all”, anyway. Back in my day, there was no “snow day”. Nowadays, snow barely covers the ground and kids get to stay home. Because of prevalent low pay, teachers go on strike, sending kids home for days or weeks at a time. Now, we add marches and “walkouts” to the list. Yet another opportunity to skip school. I am actually unsure how the marches work on the school administration end. I know one did not have to participate in the walkout if one did not want to, but I am not sure whether it is the school that gives students time to work on the march organization, or if it is the students themselves who choose to skip class. It would be a shame if classes were canceled across the board, even for those who would like to remain and learn. What I DO know is that studying is put on a back burner. A college student, who participated in the Women’s March said: “I definitely fell back in school a bit for it, but to me, that was worth it.” Back when I was in school, if anyone told me to go walk down a street with a sign in my hand so that I did not have to go to school, I would have done it in a heartbeat. Anything to skip school. Anything to avoid a test or a deadline.

Lastly, it seems like marches are the only way to get what we want nowadays. Aside from Tweets, of course.

Stay golden,

.

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