You are the leaders our elected officials have refused to be.
The adults have failed you. Too many of them have put political ideology and corporate interests ahead of your rights, your safety, your lives. In your schools, communities, and on the news you have seen mass murders unfold in places where you are meant to learn, grow, and thrive, while a majority of the adults in power have failed to take meaningful action.
School was supposed to be a place where you learned about yourself and the world in a safe, nurturing environment. Your childhood and teenage years were meant to be a time to store up memories of love, laughter, and friendship that would last you a lifetime. Instead, school has become a place where you learn to duck behind your desks if a shooter enters the room, because that’s a realistic scenario the grownups have allowed to become almost commonplace.
You have seen tragedies. You’ve wrestled with despair. Yet, out of this unforgivably cruel situation you’ve generated hope, meaning, and a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create lasting change.
After the Parkland shooting you rode in buses to the Florida State Capitol to call for a ban on weapons whose only purpose is to kill. Less than a week later you walked out of class in schools across the country to protest gun culture and violence. In a matter of days, your actions have fundamentally changed the debate about guns in the U.S. You are the future of this country, and as such you hold moral authority greater than that of any adult. All of a sudden, the grownups are being forced to pay attention.
Of course, the majority of grownups in the Florida legislature didn’t listen to you. Far too many in Congress aren’t listening, either. That says something of their cowardice, not your effectiveness. Like every social movement in history, yours will run up against seemingly insurmountable obstacles. But history has shown public protest and moral outrage do work—and have worked during movements for civil rights, women’s suffrage, an end to war in Southeast Asia, and many, many more instances. Each of those movements took on a job cynics said was impossible. Each won immense victories.
My message to you is this: keep fighting. Keep marching, rallying, organizing. Stay outraged but stay loving. When adults tell you it’s useless, you can’t make a difference, you don’t know what you’re talking about—and they’ll say all these things—don’t believe them. Those are the kinds of words adults will say when they’re ashamed to look you in the eyes.
But thousands—I hope millions—of adults will support you. We won’t stand back and make you take on this fight alone. We need your leadership, but we will show up to your marches on March 24th and beyond. We will go to town halls and confront elected leaders alongside you. Because quite a few of us do care about your futures. We’ll fight for you, and with you, and we’ll never lie to you by saying your efforts don’t matter.
Your movement to end gun violence feels like a turning point for this country. It’s about guns, but also what our nation has become. Because the truth is, the adults have failed you in many, many ways. They’ve deported you to places where you will likely face death. They’ve denied you life-saving health care. They’ve allowed you to be bullied to the point of suicide for expressing your gender identity. And they’ve threatened the stability of the planet that sustains you—its air, water, species, and climate.
A nation focused on the needs of its young people would not do any of those things. In responding to one of the most violent, horrific instances of adult negligence, you’re showing our society that you won’t let your needs for life and wellness be ignored.
When adults say they care about your future, ask them to prove it. Almost all of them will say that—but you have a right to demand they back up these words with actions. I firmly believe with your leadership, we’ll see a day when assault rifles can no longer be bought off store shelves and every decision in government is made with the needs of young people in mind.
Keep protesting, keep organizing. Take time to grieve for what you’ve been through, then take your grief to the halls of state capitols and Congress. You are what the world has been missing.