Another school shooting means another news cycle of agreement that “enough is enough” but disagreement over what needs to change to stem the carnage we saw again, this time at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas.
Eighteen-year-old Andrew Schneidawind started the hashtag #IfIDieInASchoolShooting over the weekend in response to the latest school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas. Taylor Swaak has the story at The 74.
And two former Obama administration education officials have come out in favor of parents keeping their kids home from school after Labor Day and until Congress takes action on gun control. The idea originated in a tweet by Peter Cunningham, Education Post’s Executive Director and former Assistant Secretary for Communications and Outreach during President Obama’s first term. Former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan retweeted it, calling it a “brilliant” idea and saying his family is “all in.”
Maybe it’s time for America’s 50 million school parents to simply pull their kids out of school until we have better gun laws.https://t.co/JCBYstcHEA
— Peter Cunningham (@PCunningham57) May 18, 2018
This is brilliant, and tragically necessary.
What if no children went to school until gun laws changed to keep them safe?
My family is all in if we can do this at scale.
Parents, will you please join us? https://t.co/Yo4wsFuJI5— Arne Duncan (@arneduncan) May 18, 2018
When asked what laws he would specifically like to see passed at the federal level, he lists 3.
3 important and widely supported policy changes:
Require background checks for all gun purchases
Ban assault weapons
Restore federal funding for gun research
Are you with me?
Do any of these blame law abiding gun owners for anything? https://t.co/YlxLZScYug— Arne Duncan (@arneduncan) May 21, 2018
Duncan has been all over the media since his tweet heard ’round the world and he acknowledges the logistical nightmare this boycott would be for most parents; he points out, however, that it can’t compare to the nightmare of kids getting shot and killed in school. Point taken.
So, would you keep your kids home from school indefinitely as a way to protest gun violence in America?
Do you support the policy changes cited by Duncan?
Will people who live in states that already have strict gun laws be motivated to need participate?
With a nation as divided as ours on how to tackle the issue of gun violence, it’s likely that American parents will be divided on this boycott idea too. But if nothing else, the proposed school boycott is a conversation starter. So let’s talk about.
Note: Erika is a consultant for Education Post, the organization run by Peter Cunningham.