GURJOT KANG; Opinion Editor; kanggk@plu.edu
Pacific Lutheran University first-year Gracie Anderson, founder of the “Will My School Be Next?” campaign, is laying plans for a march and rally in Olympia on March 14 in response to the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
Anderson organized the march near the end of the Washington State Legislative session on March 8 to compel the legislature to place the issue of gun violence in schools at the top of their political agenda for next session. The event is thus named “Will Washington State Be Next?” to reflect the march’s goal of urging political action from state lawmakers.
The event will start at 11 a.m. with a rally at Marathon Park and end with the completion of a march to the capitol steps at 2 p.m. The event will feature student speakers, poetry, music, petition signing and more.
“I want to do something on the legislative steps […] close to right after the session ends, something powerful like that,” Anderson said. “I also want to connect with local officials, statewide officials, public officials and I want them to have a platform to talk.”
I am exhausted, and terrified, and I want things to change.
We are calling upon the WA State legislature to take measures to protect students and school faculty.#WillWeBeNext pic.twitter.com/Uq5pKEIDaC— Will My School Be Next? (@WillWeBeNext) February 17, 2018
The “Will Washington State Be Next?” event will take place on the same day as the nationwide “#ENOUGH: National School Walkout,” organized by the Women’s March Youth Empower. The organization encourages students, faculty, parents and all in support of gun control legislation across the country to walkout at 10 a.m. for 17 minutes to commemorate each of the lives lost in the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.
Anderson’s “Will My School Be Next?” campaign petitions the Washington state legislature to act upon the issue of mass school shootings and gun violence. She hopes the movement will send a clear message that students will not stop fighting until initiative is shown to protect their schools.
The campaign launched Feb. 16, two days after the Parkland, FL shooting. It represents the fears of students at PLU and schools nationwide who are afraid that they too will become the victims of what The New York Times refers to as the “Mass Shooting Generation.”
The campaign encourages students, parents and all who demand action from their government to post photos of themselves on social media holding signs with statements such as, “Will PLU Be Next?,” “Will THIS Parkland Be Next?” and “Will My Brother or Sister Be Next?”
We want to grow up in a world—I want to grow up in a world—where my kids don’t have to experience this.
-Gracie Anderson
Another aspect of the campaign includes students from local schools signing petitions and writing letters to Washington state legislators, urging them to show a commitment towards working with students and implementing action to make schools safer.
Anderson said she also wants to create a task force of students to thoroughly research and find evidence-based solutions for the ongoing issue of mass shootings. The task force will investigate the efficiency of stricter background checks, arming veterans in schools or banning certain military grade weapons in preventing the ongoing cycle of school shootings.
She plans to work with these students to create a comprehensive memo-style document to present to Washington State legislators during the end of session.
“We want them to push politics aside and actually do something that benefits us,” Anderson said.
Anderson said she started the campaign right after she caught herself feeling numb from the tragedy of another mass shooting.
“Right away I realized I was reacting differently to it than I normally do. I noticed myself a little bit desentized, which was a major red flag for me because I never felt that way about a shooting before,” Anderson said. “I immediately looked at the pictures of the victims and read their stories to kind of get back to a place I usually am for these shootings—it’s a lot of grieving and fear.”
Anderson’s feelings of grief and fear were quickly replaced by anger and frustration. She said she grew tired of the repetitive cycle of thoughts, prayers and inaction related to mass shootings. Drawing from this anger, she decided to take action.
The “Will My School Be Next?” campaign has already been viewed by thousands of individuals on social media all over the nation. Anderson has even received messages of support from around the globe.
PLU students hold varying “Will We Be Next?” signs for the Will My School Be Next campaign.
“What’s been absolutely phenomenal is the nation-wide support and the solidarity from people across the country,” she said. “I had someone who lives in Arizona contact me and say ‘I want to bring it here’ and that was so cool. The Chicago Tribune just released an article and we’re a part of it […] which was so exciting.”
Washington state news organizations like KIRO 7, KING 5 and KOMO News have also reported on the “Will My School Be Next?” movement. Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Lindquist recently reached out to Anderson, interested in learning more about the movement and its mission.
Anderson said she is truly overwhelmed and thankful for all the support. She said she hopes that her campaign can help motivate change in the future so that students will no longer have to live in fear of whether they will be next
Anderson said what she really wants at the end of the day is for students, her family, friends, peers, professors and herself to feel safer in school.
“What we really all want is safety, and we want our kids to be safe,” she said. “We want to grow up in a world—I want to grow up in a world—where my kids don’t have to experience this.”
To learn more about the “Will My School Be Next?” movement and how to get involved, you can follow @WillMySchoolBeNext on Facebook, @willwebenext on Twitter and Instagram, or visit their website at willwebenext.com.
Stay tuned for future developments in the “Will My School Be Next?” movement as Mast Media reports.
As part of the movement’s initiative to bring the campaign directly into schools, Anderson wants PLU students who went to school in Washington State to get involved by contacting her (at gracienanderson@gmail.com) and giving the name of a teacher or student from their high school that she can reach out to help bring the movement to their school.
