Future School of Fort Smith students reflect on Washington ‘March for Our Lives’

Feb. 14, 2018. A 19-year-old gunman walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., with an AR-15-styled assault weapon and slaughtered 17 people (14 students, three faculty members) in just over six minutes.

The tragedy reignited debate over how to balance gun legislation with the constitutional right to bear arms. Usually the debate is between Democrats and Republicans, but at the March for Our Lives rally on March 24, those leading the conversation were the students themselves.

The Washington, D.C.-based event welcomed high school students from across the country, including three students from Future School of Fort Smith. The school received a private investment to send two students and a teacher, according to Trish Flanagan, the school’s founder and superintendent. Another student took a Greyhound bus 36 hours to join them.

What followed is something student Johnny Rose called “very, very formative.”

SIX MINUTES
“It’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Rose told Talk Business & Politics in a recent interview.

Rose said the most emotional and memorable moment was Parkland survivor Emma Gonzalez’ six minutes of silence.

“It was excruciatingly emotional. When she was listing off the names of the Parkland victims, members of the crowd held up drawings and paintings of those who had lost their lives. That itself was powerful. Moreover, the silence nearly brought me to tears. Everybody around me started to present a peace sign to Emma. That sense of unity and commiseration was moving,” Rose said.

That same moment resonated with Future School student Elizabeth Gonzalez, who said it stuck with her “because of how little time it took for all the lives to be taken away.”

“It made me think on how just six minutes changed so many families and our youth today,” Gonzalez said. “Usually, here in Arkansas, people see guns as a way to hunt, not necessarily a way to hurt others. Before this, I didn’t pay attention to the news as much. Many students have a mindset of ‘Oh that’s happening in Washington, we don’t have to worry about it because it is not happening here.’ This trip helped me realize just because it has not happened here does not mean it will not.”

To Elizabeth Gonzalez’ point, Fort Smith Public Schools, which operates separate from Future School, has made a proposed $35 million in safety and security upgrades a cornerstone of its proposed millage increase, which will go before voters on May 22. But for students of the March like Gonzalez and Rose, true changes will need a legislative component.

NO BANS, JUST PROGRESS
Gonzalez told Talk Business & Politics she did “not think banning guns overall would be the answer per se, because of how divided our country is about this issue.”

“I believe having more restrictions and implementing a better system for tracking guns would be more effective. I would also love to see a ban on arms like the AR-15,” Gonzalez said.

Rose said he wants “progress towards a safer America. And for the most part, there’s been significant progress made.”

“For example, in Florida, the age-limit on purchasing guns was raised from 18 to 21 years old,” Rose said, also crediting President Donald Trump for greenlighting government funding “for research as to why there are so many gun deaths in America and what we can do about it.”

“That progress is awesome, but I want more — more potential solutions brought through constructive discussion between the citizens of America and the members of Congress. Also, I was speaking with a New York Times writer and what she said really rang true to me: the biggest change is going to have to come from gun owners. They have to be the ones calling for change.”

CIVIL DISCOURSE
Another way the gun debate — at least what was presented at the March — differed from usual debates between Republicans and Democrats was in the level of civility. Rose said there were counter-protesters at the event on Saturday, but they were non-violent, and the most pushback he witnessed was a simple, “Why are you here?” from one of the marchers.

“Marchers were civil, even with the few counter-protesters that I saw there. At one point, someone fainted in the crowd and everyone nearby started searching for a medic and doing whatever they could individually to help. It’s really unfortunate that the victim fainted, but seeing people work together so quickly was really cool and inspiring,” Rose said.

Rose was also “surprised” to see younger kids at the March wearing “Make America Great Again” hats, referring to President Trump’s campaign slogan.

“I was surprised that these really young kids were so openly displaying their support for Trump,” he said.

Sebastian Jennings, the student who rode Greyhound to Washington, D.C., was not available for comment on Monday, nor was teacher/chaperone Allison Montiel.