It is Sunday afternoon, less than 12 hours before this post will go
live. If you've checked out this blog you'll know my theme this month has been Commitment.
I referenced M.L. Buchman’s post at Romancing The
Genres earlier in March “But I Had A Plan” in my March 19, 2018 post
here. I’ve talked about Olympic athletes and the level of commitment it
takes to reach that level of performance. I’ve also talked about a continuum of commitment.
As I write this last post of March 2018, I’ve so many more ideas about commitment
running through my mind.
Why? I watched several hours of the coverage of the March For Our
Lives events yesterday.
These young people personified Commitment. While the specific
message is about gun control, the underlying belief is:
We
Have A Right To Feel and Be Safe In Our Schools.
Their passion, whether standing on the stage in front of thousands of
people or being interviewed on t.v. talk and news shows, was evident. More than
once I had tears in my eyes.
The young person who said that she’d learned to duck bullets before she
learned to read.
The Marjorie Stoneman Douglas student who tailored her speech to exactly
6 minutes and 20 seconds, the amount of time it took the shooter in her school
to murder 17 students and faculty.
The youth who came from all across the United States to speak about their
personal experiences, their losses.
Speaker after speaker spoke about this being a
cause that they believe in and will work on for as long as it takes to achieve
their goal. They challenged adults to step up and support
whatever is needed to create safe learning and living environments. It was
clear to me that these young people will settle for nothing less than safe
schools.
My other thoughts centered on seeing young people
engaged in the democratic process of free speech. It’s more than having free
speech. It’s what you do with it. Memories of speech classes and speech contests
from my own high school days surfaced. If you took speech or entered a speech
contest when you were their age, you know that these young women and men had
the ability to write their thoughts and feelings without an adult doing it for
them.
And, they have all the ingredients of a
successful plan:
A clear and
specific goal
A passion
for the goal
The belief
they can reach that goal.
What I’m excited to see is where the March for Our Lives takes us as a
nation. Where the commitment of
these young people will lead us. What we, as adults, will choose to do when
challenged or invited to join them in creating learning environments where
every child knows they are safe from violence.
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© 2018 Judith Ashley
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