In the first few months of 2018 there have been at least 18 school shootings. There has been little to no change on gun laws and the increase of mass shootings is getting worse. High School students are now stepping up by setting up protests and school walk outs, but what does this mean for their future? Some schools have been giving consequences for students who walk out of class, but many colleges are letting students know that whatever consequences they are given will be overlooked and will not affect their possible admission to their school.

Even with colleges overlooking the consequences some students are still hesitant to protest out of fear from how their parents might react. Peacefully protesting gun violence should not be something that kids can’t do because their schools may give them detention, suspension or even expulsion. Protesting is a Constitutional Right and teenagers should not be punished for exercising it. Instead of punishing students for walking out of class to protest, why doesn’t the country to work towards changing things so students don’t have to walk out of class. Now more than ever people need to work together so we can make real change in the world and try to put a stop to all of this violence and death. School is a place where kids are supposed to learn, not be scared that they could die. The solution to the problem isn’t simple but it shouldn’t be to arm our teachers or to put armed guards in schools. The problem is guns, we shouldn’t add more guns to the problem, we should work to make them harder to get a hold of. Real change needs to happen in the world and it needs to happen soon.