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#walkupnotout asks students to take responsibility for the mental health of their classmates, suggesting that school shootings are *their fault* for not being "nicer." It's victim-blaming. Stop it.
It's baffling to me that people think that instead of making it harder for a troubled teenager with a history of violence to get his hands on an AR-15, we should just tell students to "be nice" and hope he doesn't shoot them. Good grief.
Of course I want to see students reach out to one another and be kind to one another! But offering a hug to a troubled student is not going to magically solve significant mental health challenges where clinical care is needed, nor will it protect against an AR-15...
And also, telling female students to get more intimately involved in the lives of troubled young men plagued by things like racism, violence, & toxic masculinity may in some cases be dangerous advice.
In high school, after Columbine, I took similar advice to heart and it put me in some conversations & situations that were probably not healthy or safe.
Ultimately, it's not an either/or thing. We don't have to choose between anti-bullying campaigns and sensible gun legislation. We can do both. #walkupnotout
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