the children will lead us...

I'm about to use a lot of all caps. I'm sorry. I'm fired up.

I've been thinking a lot about teenagers lately. I have my own teen, as of a few weeks ago. (Okay, not literally, but he's 11 going on 17, so it counts.) But besides the fun first world problems of dealing with zits, phone limits and texting ettiquite, our teens have some serious stuff to contend with.

They live in a country in which they are regulary the targets of madmen with guns. They live in a country piled to the sky with deadly weapons. They live in a country in which politicians, with STRAIGHT FACES, say to them, "well there is just nothing we can do" about gun violence.  Or, my personal favorite, "We should arm the teachers!"

As a teacher of nearly 20 years, I can say with certainty that is the stupidest idea ever, in the history of man. (Yes, MAN. This is (one of the many, many reasons) why we need more women in government.)

Arm teachers!? I can't even answer that without cursing. I sometimes have to hide my PENCILS because my students with special needs use them aggressively (and I teach elementary school). You think I'd let a DEADLY WEAPON in my room? You are out of your mind. And also, since when did it become my job to be a first responder or an armed guard? Protecting our lives is YOUR JOB POLITICIANS. And you are failing miserably, by every measure, in every way. DO YOUR JOB.

My job is to teach kids how to read and add. Your job is to legislate public safety. Clear?

It's been a tough week (year? decade?). But I have hope, I have a glimmer of hope, and so should you, because these teens, these kids who have been practicing red alert drills and lock down procedures and hiding under desks and in closets on the regular for years... they are fed up. They know how to use twitter and give interviews to CNN and they are ORGANIZING.

Here are three events already planned for the coming weeks,  planed and led by young people:


April 20th: School Walkout (to coincide with the anniversary of Columbine)

https://twitter.com/schoolwalkoutUS

March 12th: School Walkout, supported by the Women's March.

https://www.womensmarch.com/empower/

March 24: March on Washington

https://www.marchforourlives.com



And you know what else, in a couple of years these sophomores and seniors will be VOTING CITIZENS. So let's get out of the way and let the children lead. They might just save us all.