Students show the power of peaceful protest

The March for Our Lives demonstrations yielded unexpectedworldwide response in support of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students and any youth affected by the gun violence in this nation.

It went far beyond what the Parkland, Fla., students and the participants had expected. I saw courage, frustration, exasperation, anger, tears and desperate pleas for grown-ups to be grown-ups and get a handle on this problem.

The speeches in Washington, D.C., were exemplary. But I’m telling you what most of you already know.

Here’s what I didn’t see: fire hoses, tear gas, Tiananmen Square-like tanks, Putin or Erdogan thugs, rubber bullets, Tiki torches, weaponized cars, students jumping on or smashing cars, or turned over and lit-on-fire vehicles.

I heard no chant that included the word pig; saw no billy clubs swung at students; no students spitting expletives (and spit) at officers of the law.

Did you hear about any drunken brawls or looting?

The oratory of the students I heard showed that communication is best served on a platter free of vulgarity. The power of these students was not only in their emotional pleas and their silence in respect for gun-shooting victims but also in their behavior.

The support they garnered is what can happen when the people “peaceably assemble.” The events of that day were what civility looks like.

Let’s all hope it is “only the beginning.” BARRY G. GOVENOR

Brentwood