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Congressional inaction is burying America’s kids

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, will reopen its doors to students on Feb. 27 – two weeks after a Valentine’s Day shooting that claimed the lives of 14 students and three staff members.

One week after that shooting, Florida’s Republican-dominated House of Representatives voted down a motion to consider a ban on semiautomatic weapons and large-capacity magazines.

Now, students are speaking out and marching in cities and states across the country to express their frustration with the inaction of legislators. Why?

Because we are outraged.

No 8-year-old child should fear for their life because their light-up sneakers could give their location away if an active shooter were to invade their school (See Ron Gray’s Feb. 18 tweet, @ClouttMonster). No teacher should have to apologize for not being able to “protect” their students the same way other teachers do because they are in a wheelchair, like Ohio teacher Marissa Schimmoeller did earlier this week. No parent should worry if waving goodbye and dropping their child off at school in the morning is the right thing to do.

We are being failed by our legislators. We – a nation of nearly 326 million – are being forsaken by a Congress that is too afraid, too indecisive, too argumentative to act and make our schools and cities safer places.

It’s no wonder students are organizing lie-ins in Washington, D.C., and National School Walk-Outs in schools across the country to protest a lack of gun control reform.

And now some students are being failed by their educators, too. The superintendent of Needville Independent School District in Needville, Texas, messaged parents this week threatening that any students who choose to participate in a walk-out during school hours will be suspended for three days.

To any school district that attempts to prevent its students from exercising their First Amendment rights: shame on you. Someone ought to remind Superintendent Curtis Rhodes of the 1969 Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines, which ruled that all public school students must be allowed to exercise their constitutional rights.

On March 8, Bradley will have its own National School Walk Out event – students are being encouraged to head out of class at 10 a.m. that Thursday for 17 minutes as a way to peacefully, but powerfully, protest Congress’ inaction.

To our faculty, staff and administration: we encourage you to participate. 17 minutes at the end of class on the last day of school before Spring Break may seem trite, but it’s more urgent than ever. We also encourage the Bradley community to participate in BUPD’s Campus Emergency Operations presentation today at 12:30 p.m. in Michel Student Center’s Marty Theater, which will go over ways to stay safe on campus during emergency situations.

To Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Illinois, right here in District 18; to our senators and our representatives in Washington who vote down stricter gun control legislation; to President Donald Trump – say these names out loud as you head to work on Monday.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Pulse Nightclub. Las Vegas. San Bernadino. Sandy Hook. Virginia Tech. Columbine.

Say those names and do something.

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