We live in Canada. It’s nice here.
Our neighbours to the south, however, have had a total of 30 mass shootings in 2018 already, according to Gun Violence Archive. In 2017, there were 346 mass shootings in America, nearly one a day. Read that again. Nearly one a day.
The Florida school shooting marked the sixth U.S. school shooting of 2018. In total, the Florida shooting took the lives of 17 students and teachers.
Albeit Canada has much stricter gun laws, school shootings do happen on Canadian soil. A stark reminder that 14 female students were shot and killed at L’Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal in 1989. Here’s a list of deadly mass shootings in Canada since then.
What You Can Do, as a Candian Student
Demonstrations are taking place all across America due to horrific gun violence. Yesterday, students held a “lie-in” in front of the White House with dozens of students lay on the pavement in front of the White House. Many of the protestors have grown tired of the cyclical “thoughts and prayers” that come with mass shootings, but little done (read: nothing) to changing gun laws.
My prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the terrible Florida shooting. No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 14, 2018
This is a precursor to the planned march next month by survivors of the Parkland school shooting.
The planned demonstration, National School Walkout, is calling on “students, teachers and allies to take part in #NationalSchoolWalkout for 17 minutes at 10 a.m. on March 14, 2018.” Here’s the Facebook invite, which is hosted by Women’s March. There are currently 30,000 students and allies planning on attending.
Enough is enough!
Women's March Youth EMPOWER is calling for students, teachers, and allies to take part in a #NationalSchoolWalkout for 17 minutes at 10am on March 14, 2018. Join us in saying #ENOUGH!https://t.co/8ZE8uthRlZ pic.twitter.com/45yCZl4zDm
— Women's March (@womensmarch) February 16, 2018
Yes, this is happening in the U.S., but many Canadian students are now supporting the cause. It’s the Canadian thing to do.
Editor’s Note: Have something to add to this story? Will you be participating in #NationalSchoolWalkout in support of American students? We’d like to hear from you. Email us at editor@studentlifenetwork.com.
*Opinions expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of Student Life Network or their partners.
Ryan Bolton
Ryan Bolton is the former Director of Communications (aka. Guy That Plays With Words) at Student Life Network. He has a beard that can nest a family of sparrows. And a dog—Hank—that has a slight attitude problem.
