What Happened?
When I walked out on National Walkout day on April 20th, 2018, I skipped my classes because I thought my presence could make a difference on gun legislation that would protect against school shootings. What I didn’t know was if my chanting “Call your reps!” would actually change someone’s vote. National Walkout Day and March for Our Lives (MFOL) were student-led protests that took place in early 2018.
Yet, at the time many of my peers, including myself, could not vote for the change we were calling for. In researching this topic, I wanted to know if we were unique in our struggle as disenfranchised activists or if we were simply another cycle of history. MFOL echoes much of the student activism seen during the desegregation movements from the 1950s and 60s, but the new technologies we see today allows for an increased reach through social media use and therefore a greater unity among protestors. In preparation for the midterm elections, MFOL utilized their social media momentum to run the “Vote for Our Lives” campaign. The 2018 midterm saw drastically increased voter turnout compared to prior years and this momentum seen in voters along with common sense gun reform passed in Washington, proves that we, young activists, can help overcome the silence on gun violence in our country.
A Historical Repeat
The Parkland students are the main leaders of the movement because of their personal connection and proximity to what the movement is about. This personal motivation draws close parallels to historical student protests during the 1960s as black students protested for equality in education. African American students became strong advocates for integration, and as the larger civil rights movements died down, the students found even more momentum for their cause. As scholar John Rury explains in his article “An End of Innocence:”
African American secondary students became considerably more active as the decade wore on, and less accepting of the traditional goals of established civil rights organizations such as the NAACP.
These young activists were taking on more and more responsibility as it became clear they could only rely on themselves to create real change. They brought a sense of urgency to the issue and “embraced certain tenets of the emerging Black Power perspective, particularly black pride and community self-control.”1 Rury, John L., and Shirley Hill. “An End of Innocence: African-American High School Protest in the 1960s and 1970s.” History of Education 42 (July 2013): 504 This added responsibility that the African American student activists and the Parkland activists have undertaken is detrimental to their childhoods. Just as African American students could not ignore the poor conditions of their segregated schools, the Parkland activists can no longer ignore the gun violence they have been exposed to. However, even if one aspect of their childhood is destroyed, at least these victims have harnessed their story to change national policy. Parkland students, just as black students were during the civil rights movement, have “[become] potent actors in the national struggle for equality and self-determination” in their quest “of changing their high schools to meet the needs they felt were being ignored.”2Rury, John L., and Shirley Hill. “An End of Innocence: African-American High School Protest in the 1960s and 1970s.” History of Education 42 (July 2013): 487. The Parkland students and students across the nation are no longer tolerant of the system that allows for the killing their classmates. They feel as though they are being neglected and instead of allowing the silence on the issue to continue, they have left their childhood innocence behind to pursue the change our country needs.
Strength in Followers
One of the modern day strengths of these protests is social media. Often the administrations in charge of students are slow to respond to their demands, so they turn to social media which “[allows] students to listen to each other, demonstrate their solidarity with each other, and lead with each other through activism.”3Gismondi, Adam, and Laura Osteen. “Student Activism in the Technology Age.” New Directions for Student Leadership 153 (Spring 2017): 64.
I know from when I attended my school walkout, all of the organization was done digitally either through group messaging or social media accounts. Not only that but after the walkout was over, it continued to live on for a few days through social media posts.
This pattern of social media allowing a movement to ripple for longer than it is actually active allows for more people to get involved even after the actual march or walkout is done. Adam Gismondi and Laura Osteen, in their article “Student Activism in the Technology Age,” call this ripple effect on social media “the public use of iterative processes to achieve shared language and develop goals.”4 Gismondi, Adam, and Laura Osteen. “Student Activism in the Technology Age.” 65. Not only does social media now allow for MFOL to take advantage of this extended ripple period, but it is also strengthened by the individual stories that are shared tangentially. Using social media to reach out to voters has been successful in the past. These types of online campaigns work by leveraging an online following to create social pressure to encourage people to vote.5 Haenschen, Katherine. “Social Pressure on Social Media: Using Facebook Status Updates to Increase Voter Turnout.” Journal of Communication 66 (August 2016): 542–563. This also helps the movement evolve “to suit the needs and demands of the activists.”6Gismondi, Adam, and Laura Osteen. “Student Activism in the Technology Age.” 66. To keep their momentum going, MFOL evolved into a “get out the vote” campaign to take advantage of their following and the ripple effect to continue to share their story about gun violence.
MFOL is using social media to get voters out and to draw young people in. MFOL hopes to “build a sense of community between young people all over the country who see each other participating on social media” in the #TurnOutTuesday campaign. March for Our Lives leaders are focused on getting a high voter turnout and continue to emphasize how gun reform does not have to be a partisan issue. They are interested in supporting gun reform regardless of which side the candidate leans. One of the field strategists for MFOL said “When people tell us that their vote doesn’t matter or their vote won’t make a difference, we tell them that it will. We tell them that your vote will save a life.” MFOL activists continue to embrace their inability to vote by telling those who can what issues matter most and why their vote is important.
I Voted, Did You?
Coming right off of March for Our Lives and National Walkout day, many students had high hopes while adults remained skeptical. Following the march, John Cassidy, Writing for the New Yorker, talks about how at the time there was little optimism that the movement would go anywhere in the Republican-controlled government. However, this lack of faith seen directly following the 
march has now been shattered by a Democratic takeover of the House, and with that same momentum, Washinton voters passed Initiative 1639, which was common sense gun reform passing with 60% of the votes. Some of this success can be attributed to the high voter turnout seen in the midterms.
Now many of my peers who participated last year have graduated from high school and, like me, voted in the midterms. It felt good to check yes on I-1639 and to hear that I was part of an ambitious large wave of voters. I would say we are only seeing the beginning of a ripple effect high school activists have started and the legacy of these student activists will continue to live alongside the student activists of the past. The blue wave we see today is only a preview of what is to come. I know that if this new batch of representatives continues to fail the students, the young activists we have empowered this year won’t let their issues be ignored.
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