From Krist Boardman:
With few exceptions, most school administrators are taking a permissive stance toward school
students leaving their classes to attend a national march in Washington against gun violence. The students are understandably upset by the Valentine’s Day massacre in a Parkland, Florida high school that claimed their school mates and two teachers; they are also upset by the casual culture of guns in the United States that makes such incidents possible.
They are outraged by a legislative process in Washington and state capitols, which has been dominated by a gun lobby that has paid legislators unbelievable amounts
of money to adhere to their positions and undermine public safety.
In Baltimore, Mayor Catherine Pugh has reserved one hundred buses to take the students to Washington, and most of the surrounding school districts have agreed not to try to stop the students from attending.
In Harford County, a jurisdiction firmly in the grip of pro-gun advocates, the superintendent has announced a no-toleration policy and will attempt to discipline students who do leave school to attend. My guess is that there will be some students who will defy this directive and attend nevertheless. It could even set up some court and First Amendment battles.
When I was a youth the prospect of global nuclear war seemed vey real as the Soviet Union and the U.S. sparred over nuclear weapons in Cuba. I was going to a Quaker boarding school in Iowa where most people were horrified by a possible nuclear holocaust, but the director of the school would not let me leave to attend an anti-nuclear march that was being held nearby. So I sat that one out, but it wasn’t the end of the world. During the summer I organized a march to commemorate Hiroshima and Nagasaki Days where maybe as many as 150,000 people were incinerated in the nuclear catastrophe that occurred at the end of World War II. That had happened only sixteen years earlier, slightly longer than I had then been alive.
What’s astonishing about the Parkland survivors and the other students aligned with them is their clear understanding of the issues, their ability to articulate their positions, and their willingness to challenge adults and political leaders and demand changes. A USA Today columnist just wrote that too much stock should not be put in these young peoples’ opinions because they are young and that presumably wisdom can only come with age. I don’t necessarily agree with that,
though it is also true that young people can do and have done a lot of incredibly stupid things just as adults do. But in this case I think the students are acting with great clairvoyance, just as I was when I was organizing an anti-nuclear protest so long ago.
High school students are only a few short years from voting age and military enlistment age, and if they have been sitting in classrooms ever since they were five years old, they should be expected to be applying the knowledge and thinking skills they have been accumulating.
My view is that people can learn a lot by attending a public event such as this. They will meet new and interesting people and have experiences that will teach them about the political process in our democracy. These students have a great future ahead of them and they care about the kind of country they will be living in, enough to try to make some changes for the better.
Krist Boardman
I love how you throw a first amendment reference in your diatribe while discounting the second amendment. Violent crime rate in the county firmly in the grip of pro gun advocates 29 out of 100. Violent crime rate in a city firmly in control of anti gun leftists 92 out of 100. Per https://www.bestplaces.net/crime/city/maryland/baltimore US average is 31.1. Also we live in a Republic not a Democracy.
“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!” -Ben Franklin
idiot
I see the argument from the left has shown up, one word insults for arguments.
Re:Harford Count Constiutionalist
Here is another great quote:
“Fake quotes will ruin the internet,” – Ben Franklin
Yes! I could not agree more. These kids are afraid, and people need to listen to them. Strikes and protests have brought about significant change in this country. These kids are following a great tradition of peaceful protest and advocacy for change. Good for them.
Boardman is 100% correct.
High school students have the right to free speech and assembly.
The Supreme Court said in Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) that student rights to free speech does not end at the school house door.
Harford County Superintendent Barbara Canavan has no authority to suppress student freedom of speech, assembly or protest.
Government has failed to provide common sense gun safety in the nation.
No civillian should be allowed to own a military assault rifle(AR15) , a bazooka or rocket launcher.
Harford students should not listen to illegitimate and unconstitutional authority. Don’t let political conservatives shut you down or shut you up.
No more government BS!
You know it! Free speech until you chew a pop tart into what is thought to be the shape of a gun, or want to wear a MAGA hat, or discuss that there is more to the Confederate flag than racism. Free speech in our schools until some liberal claims offense. One way or the other Boringman.
Tom Paine(interesting moniker for a gun control advocate)
Wearing armbands is a little different than walking out of class (Tinker v Des Moines). Students can assemble and protest on their own time not on the schools time. Bazookas and rocket launchers are already illegal. AR-15 is not a military assault rifle, it is not capable of burst or full auto. It is a semi automatic rifle of which there are many designs, the AR-15 is merely the most popular one. The second amendment is quite clear, and it purpose is clarified even further in Federalist no. 46.
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed46.asp
It is not about hunting, shooting sports or any other lie the left comes up with. If you do not like this by all means support an amendment that repeals the second amendment, that is how a constitutional republic works and is your right to do so. As for passing a law that you have to be 21 to own a gun, I am fine with that. The right to vote should be at 21 as well, votes are much more dangerous than guns.
If you take that scary looking AR-15, knock the scary black parts off and put the hardware on a warm, polished wooden stock it becomes a .223 semiautomatic hunting rifle and the uninformed stop wrongly calling it an assault rifle. While we’re at it, I find black cars scary so maybe we could push for a ban on black car paint. Where are the calls for accountability? Who in the FBI, the Sheriff’s department or the school system has been fired for their incompetence? What difference will all your protests make when no one is held accountable? People saw something, people said something but the authorities DID NOTHING. It’s clear even the adopted mother knew it was a monster in the making. It should have been strangled with its umbilical cord. Going after guns but not demanding accountability is a total copout. I’ve said it before, the average teenager simply doesn’t have this much attention span. They’re being stoked by liberal teachers who are all very familiar with a climate of zero accountability.
it is people violence… the gun .. any gun hasn’t done anything to anyone.
That’s what they said about lawn darts
Bring back the corvair it was all unsafe drivers!
Heroin never killed anyone it just sits there never doing anything to anyone. It’s people we need laws against.
Until you jam it into your arm and push the plunger, heroin is pretty innocuous. How is that war on drugs going anyway?
What is it with the whole lawn darts fixation? We used to have a set and I wish I still had them. As I recall we had to throw them – I don’t remember them randomly taking flight and killing people. What about horse shoes? A thunk in the head by a horse shoe could kill you. But then no one pitches shoes any more, they’re heavy and they get dirt on them. eeewww… I have a gun at home in the closet and in 30 years it’s not once shot anyone or even tried to sneak out for an evening. I think Corvair’s looked pretty cool. I’d like to try driving one. As far as Heroin goes, any fool that will stick a needle in their arm for an escape deserves any escape they get.
I can’t agree with you on this one Boardman. Any support for the abrogation of the 2nd Amendment is an act of treason in my book. We are still at war with Terrorism. While it still exists, the disarming of the population is detrimental to the safety of the United States. I have to wonder what you guys are teaching these kids to make them think that the removal of our rights is the best thing for this country? If you want to truly put the people at risk and inflict harm to the United States then taking guns out of the hands of WE THE PEOPLE is the way of going about it. I’m even willing to cede the gun ownership rights to be allowable at the age of 21 instead of 18, but to disarm the people from gun ownership of a type of weapon that the government will arm every one of its minions with is not the way. Krist, you put way too much trust in your government. Remember, WE THE PEOPLE are the United States and the government does NOT exist without the people.
Treason is defined by the Constitution as the taking up of arms against the United States during a time of war, which can only be declared by Congress. As such, no one has been qualified to be charged with treason since 1945. I understand yor sentiments, but a basic reading of the Constitution and the understanding of how to apply the laws is important before we make any more shot-from-the-hip judgments.
Wrong. Treason is also defined as adherence to the enemies of the United States and giving enemies of the United States aid or comfort within the United States or elsewhere. We are amidst a time of war known as the war on terror. However, no where does it say in the Constitution that it has to be a declared war by an act of Congress and only that the acts are considered a levying of war against the United States. WE THE PEOPLE are the United States and an act that presents any harm to WE THE PEOPLE during any time, period or action against WE THE PEOPLE is actually acts against the United States. Abrogation of the 2nd Amendment is an adherence to the enemies of the United States and an act of aid to the enemies of the United States, as WE THE PEOPLE can NOT defend ourselves from these enemies that deem to do us harm without the 2nd Amendment provisions allotted to WE THE PEOPLE. Furthermore any action that is dangerous to WE THE PEOPLE, by any gathering of men that WE THE PEOPLE consider an action of levying war against WE THE PEOPLE, is treason as defined by Article 3 of the Constitution of the United States. If you don’t think taking away or restricting the people’s gun rights, in a time period where terrorists are entering this country to kill us with guns, isn’t an act of treason then you are seriously wrong in your interpretations. Sorry, but my comments stand as they were typed and I don’t give a crap about your Democratic agenda to disarm the American people. Traitor……
We must stop the Alt-Right Killers!
Typical Liberal comedian, not funny , out of touch, and full of sh**. And this is your source of information,,, no wonder the libs lost the election. Oh, bet you cant wait to see Kathy Griffin “come back” lol, theres another educated winner…
So Krist, if this is allowed then you, of course, would support kids leaving class to join in a pro-life protest, right? And a gathering to fight for Right To Work laws, and one to support building the wall.
Or is this limited to just the things you support?
I encourage the students to protest all weekend long.
What a pisser.
You do understand the March in DC is on a Saturday and the prohibition is on walking out in the middle of the school day? You also understand that the same is being done in Montgomery county?
Did you also arrange a march to remember all those service members who died at Pearl Harbor as a result of a sneak attack by Japan?
Yes apparently you missed it there is another in July if you are interested…..
Dumbass
The mayor of Balto. city has reserved 100 buses to transport kids to DC, who the hell is paying for 100 buses????
Did anyone get the chance to see Mayor Pugh embarrass herself and the city of Baltimore on a national tv interview. She appeared on the Fox network where she was interviewed, or attempted to be interviewed by Laura Ingraham regarding her funding of 60 plus buses to transport Baltimore City school children to the demonstration in Washington DC. She refused to answer the questions posed by Miss Ingraham. Mayor Pugh would continually interject and elevate her voice in attempt to avoid answering questions. She would not offer any reasonable or rational explanation for why the city of Baltimore, which is in such horrible financial shape where they had to lay off over a hundred teachers, would take on such a huge financial burden.
Miss Pugh’s presentation was so unprofessional that it spawned many questions regarding her leadership and communication skills. As I watched the interview it was reminiscent of my law enforcement days dealing with altercations involving uneducated, or just plain stupid low class people. (Before you go there stupid low class people come in all colors) These are the type of people that feel that the only way to win an argument or make a point is to interject and verbally overpower those who they do not agree with. If that interview was an example of Mayor Pugh’s leadership I very much fear for the safety and well being of the citizens of Baltimore. In my opinion a city which has been named America’s most deadly city needs far better leadership if they have any hope at all of getting any better.
I think before an editorial is written…you should understand the facts. The walkout is set to occur on the 14th and it just entails the kids leaving the classroom at 10:00 and standing outside the school building for 17 minutes. The National March is on Saturday the 24th. And even if it was not on a Saturday, a parent is welcome to go to the school anytime and sign their kid out. I would have to agree with the superintendent…it is not safe for kids to walk out of the school and congregate outside at a known time without the ability to have proper supervision. What if something happened? Would those parents then blame the school for not adequately protecting their child? Wasn’t there just a meeting in Harford County about ways for schools to protect our children? Well, the school is EXACTLY doing that AND allowing the kids their 17 minutes!
Just for the sake of argument, what exactly is unsafe about students standing outside of the school building for 17 minutes? When the school has a fire drill, doesn’t the drill take about 15 minutes? Isn’t that about the same thing? If it is a supervision issue, why not have some of the faculty walk out with the kids during the event? Just like they do when there is a fire drill. I mean, the teachers will be sitting in mostly empty classrooms so why not send them out with the kids? If you have students that don’t wish to take part in it, have them meet at the cafeteria while this is happening and have some faculty there supervising them. just like you do during lunch? Another thought is if the students actually have the organization to stage this type of event, do they really need supervision to begin with? Should media articles, like this one, even be announcing this type of event due to the knowledge of the exact time, date and places might give an AR-15 wielding psychotic juvenile or adult the opportunity to shoot them during their protest? So the publicizing of this event is actually a security issue, right? So, basically this article and every ding dong talking about it has actually created the security issue, right? Just let them have their 17 minutes and handle it like a volunteer fire drill…..
Well, first off fire drills are not publicized. And if I am correct, it was not the media that initially publicized it, it was concerned kids organizing it and it is national (not local), so of course it it publicized to get the word out. I don’t have a problem with kids wanting to get their voices heard, but it does not need to be during school time when the school system now becomes responsible for their safety. And because they are responsible (and the parents are up in arms about school safety), the school systems have that right to do what they feel is necessary. They do not have to allow any time, but I think it is great that many of these school systems are trying to find alternatives for the kids to have a voice and do it in as safe of manner as possible. I have two teenagers in High School and I would rather have them participate in a conversation about the situation, being aware of surroundings, looking for red flags and reporting them, ways they can really make a difference that would allow for change, etc. And yes the students do need supervision (and permission) if the students organize an event during school time and on school property. The kids are always welcome to organize an event outside of school time and property…they have the evenings and weekends available to them or they can participate on their own time during the National Event on the 24th. Or if the 14th means that much to them, their parent can sign them out of school and let them have their 17 minutes.
Really? I would have never known about this if it wasn’t on the Dagger. I said handle it like it was a voluntary fire drill, not that fire drills are publicized. I think a walk out is an act of civil disobedience, so do they really need your supervision or permission to be disobedient? The school is considered public property, even though its presumed use is exclusively for the students that attend it, it is still a public property and the act of civil disobedience is scheduled to take place during school hours on said public property. The whole point of being disobedient is NOT asking you for your supervision or permission, however the supervision could be given without them asking for it if you act like it is a voluntary fire drill. The whole point is they don’t want your permission to stage an act of civil disobedience. That is what civil disobedience is about.
Freedom of speech in not absolute, freedom of assembly is not absolute, freedom to possess firearms is not absolute. Violation of school safety policies can have consequences.
Undocumented, but often attributed to Franklin, but it doesnt lessen what is being said.
How bout walking out AFTER school is over and raising your awareness responsibly? It seems simple but defiance is on the rise and way over glorified.