A civilized society adheres to the rule of law. After all, if there is no rule of law, there are no rules at all, control of civility is lost. This is what I believe is now developing post Parkland.
Loss of control happens very gradually, but intensifies - exponentially - over time. It begins with those in society who are young, ignorant, impressionable and have had others provide them with a model of conduct that gives them reason to believe their desired results will happen if they do the same. To those who know history well, this is a repeat of a time in Europe around 80 years ago using the understanding that youth, as they begin growing out of childhood and into early adulthood, have a strong desire to belong and be included in whatever is popular.
In this case, high school students are organizing after seeing their peers on the other side of the country in Florida, protest for gun control. Now, high school students in the Puget Sound Region, and no doubt Portland, OR of the Pacific Northwest have planned a school walk-out in protest, and supposedly force their school districts to do something to make them safer. And, of course, the media's helping to promote this notion by covering it on their nightly news, while two students from the high school of the latest massacre are making the cable show circuit.
To any adult who's a parent responsible for their child's safety, that's akin to their child telling their parent that they're going to engage in unsafe sex unless they're given free condoms. After all, schools have long been gun free zones that only now is coming under considerable scrutiny from some in the political right.
Because our current culture has deteriorated to the point of the students dictating the terms of the situation when their level of experience, discernment and wisdom are questionable for the most part, I believe what we are now seeing is a circumstance that has spun out of control.
Of course the schools and school districts are going to cave to any discipline being applied to those who skip class to attend an organized rally. The last thing liberally controlled schools want to have in the news is press that makes them appear as though they're not supporting their students concerns. After all, the vast majority of districts across the nation have essentially cornered themselves in a position of having to support such an action.
But the deeper concern I have here is in looking down the path where this is ultimately going. It's the same problem that's plagued our country for decades, the slippery slope which builds momentum over time of greater and greater unruly actions for getting what they demand. If one takes such a situation to its natural end, then ultimately public education ends up much like it was at Evergreen State College in Olympia last year where the president of the college was held hostage and caved to their demands.
Education then, has effectively become a tool of revolutionary activism and no longer a place of learning skills which develop critical thinking for a civilized society, but indoctrinates them. The rule of law is no longer relevant, whereas, mob rule is.
