“Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin’.
Please get out of the new one
If you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’.” — Bob Dylan
Perhaps very few developments in the year 2018 have caused me as much anger as the phony and deliberately poisonous contentions that teen-agers protesting gun violence in the schools are not students, but “crisis actors.” This phenomenon has reared its ugly head too often on social media since the tragic Parkland (Fla.) shootings that killed 17 students.
The aftermath has produced heroic and intelligent commentary from young people and at the same time scurrilous and wildly inaccurate suggestions that these kids are being coached and misled. Things came closer to home this week when a number of students took part in the national walkout to take a stand against the proliferations of assault weapons.
The ringleader of the protest at the Allegan Vocation Technical Center was someone I know well, Austin Marsman, a Martin High School senior who writes for this publication and is incredibly wise and intelligent beyond his years.
It was more than insulting when I read State Senator Tonya Shuitmaker’s response to the ceremony, as quoted by WZZM-TV: “I am greatly disappointed in the adults who are encouraging these demonstrations which are nothing more than a statement which solves nothing.”
She might as well have been quoted as saying, “Children should be seen and not heard.” In the original form of this proverb, it was specifically young women who were expected to keep quiet. This opinion is recorded in the 15th century collections of homilies written by an Augustinian clergyman called John Mirk in Mirk’s Festial, circa 1450.
Schuitmaker wrongly seems to assume teen-agers who took part in this exercise were manipulated and coached by adults, perhaps teachers. I know Austin Marsman too well, and I can tell you he wasn’t coached or misled.
It also is an affront to assert that the teens’ action will solve nothing. All I’ve witnessed over the years is non-action by state and federal legislators. If allowed to continue, as it has after other tragedies such as Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012, it will indeed be for naught. But that’s on Tonya’s head and the heads of her colleagues in Lansing and Washington D.C.
When the Parkland shooting occurred Feb. 14, I was frustrated in realizing nothing has been done for nearly two decades by people I thought we elected to solve problems. These people apparently were elected to do the bidding of their donors.
One of the politicos who wants to succeed Schuitmaker as State Senator, Allegan County Clerk Bob Genetski, also was caught this week tweeting that David Hogg, one of the students at the high school that suffered the shooting, was perhaps an actor doing the bidding of CNN. He tried feebly to walk it back, but the damage has been done.
The responses of Schuitmaker and Genetski do absolutely nothing to advance the serious discussion and if anything, they exacerbate a terrible stain on this nation.
I stand with the kids, some of whom likely just wanted to get 17 minutes off school Wednesday, but many others who picked up a terrific lesson in standing up for the principles of free speech and the right to assemble for redress of grievances. Their actions took me back 50 years, when I marched against the Vietnam War, only later realizing that most of my comrades simply didn’t want to be killed. I suppose that’s what motives these youngsters as well.
Well sir,
First and foremost you likely were not in high school when you protested…
Hopefully, you were not one of the many who spit , cursed, and degraded the returning soldiers..you do remember many were told not to wear their uniforms home because of possible violence against them.
Yes, you and many others who missed being drafted into the service of their Country were safe and afraid to die.
But, what of all those that died, maimed , mentality effected by the war, those poisoned by our own people ?
All the while you were nice and safe, carrying signs, assaulting returning veterans, etc. While the rest of us were dying to protect your right to do so.
I am not here to argue how intelligent you believe these youngsters are. But to demand that adults not be members of the NRA because they hold public office, to not stop bullying in their schools, to fail to accept the fact many young people today need mental health care, etc.
Instead, let’s protest an object and an organization ….
So I must confess, I have little to no respect for those who hid behind signs protesting while those serving their Country (and not necessarily by their choosing ) were dying for them.
It is very strange how what they are protesting today will be seen everyday to protect them in school…
If you honestly believe there will be a gun free America. I have a few acres just west of Grand Haven I’ll sell very cheaply.
Mr. Smit, thank you for your comments and your service to our country. I was in during peace time, and never had to experience what you and others had to endure.
I remember when I was in school there was a rally to protest the war in Vietnam. Although I was ambivalent at that time about the war, I wanted no part of protesting. I had a cousin over there and many older friends were also serving. They offered my cousin $15,000 (and upped it later to $18,000 just before he left on the “Freedom Bird” for the “World”) to stay another year (his specialty was in demand). He was “short” and wanted out of that Hell Hole.
I agree completely with you. Nobody wants to see carnage as what happened in Florida, but they are concentrating their anger and demands on the wrong thing, but critical thinking and common sense aren’t so common anymore. In fact, it’s almost extinct.
Unless I failed reading comprehension in school, I believe Mr. Young’s point is that legislators, or those hoping to be, are defending their lack of action on this specific issue by denigrating the young who are speaking out. Rather than acknowledging that young folks do have functioning brains and valid opinions, these “leaders” are making wild accusations of hired actors and manipulated children. The truth is threatening to them, and it should be. These kids will be voting this year and during the ensuing near future. Underestimating them, their clout and their intelligence, may be an indication of the type of elected official the current candidate will be, specifically, short-sighted and condescending toward their citizenry.
We ought to be willingly tuned in to young adults. We ought to avoid the red herrings that cloud the issues at hand, those being school safety and gun sanity.
Thanks for a great piece, editor Young.
Ms. Mandeville,
You’ve accurately described the position and attitude of Democrats (especially Sec. Hillary Clinton during her campaign) when you stated “may be an indication of the type of elected official the current candidate will be, specifically, short-sighted and condescending toward their citizenry.” Your point is well taken.
Ms. Shuitmaker is a fine example of a “thinking” politician and not a “feeling” politician. “Thinking” ones get things done, “feeling” (almost 100% Democrat) ones just protest.
Excellent article Dave. I strongly agree with you. Some will take advantage of the demonstration but ALL understand the fear that they feel in a place that always seemed so safe.
I agree with Jill, children deserve the right to feel safe in school, and good article Dave. I was in High School when we marched down Grand River Ave in East Lansing against the Viet Nam War. When my friends told me that someone was blockading the streets and someone else through a block through a store window, I immediately turned 180 degrees and walked home, I support non-violent protest. “If the powers that be are appropriately responsive to the people and issues they are charged to care for, there will never be enough disenchanted (pissed off) people to form a march”.
My family is strongly represented in WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, Desert Storm, thus regarding disrespect to returning soldiers, ABSOLUTELY NOT never no way on my part, and I have always been saddened that took place. These returning and non-returning soldiers were my class mates, neighbors, family and friends. I was 1-H until graduation, I think my draft number was 284, so I was never a soldier, yet it seems that Soldiers do not make war, they follow orders and suffer first hand for those that can find no other way to resolve a problem.
Personally, I just gained a little respect for humanity seeing that enough people took time to put a good cause in front of their own to do list.
They say we are leaving all our problems to our children — global warming, mental health, gun control, so why are adults and lawmakers making a fuss when they stand up. Wipe dirt on it when I was a kid does not work any more. All wars are caused by adults and fought by kids. Look at the winter games, 93 countries getting along, mostly kids under 20. Adults better wake up. I am with the young adults.
Maybe that is the answer. Let our youth lead the way to solve these problems. They are the ones who realize what the consequences are of not addressing these problems – global warming, mental health, health care in general and gun control. At this point in their lives, they are not influenced by big money organizations and corporations. A big portion of our current politicians have been in the hip pocket of others for the majority of their lives. These students are just trying to bring back the hope of living a full and meaningful life. They are not worried about what Big Money organizations and corporations might do to their future careers.
More power to our youth!