Good gun-control debate could be learning moment

The division being created in high schools across the nation in the wake of demonstrations to protest gun violence can be detrimental to democracy if left unchecked.

But if kept in perspective, it can be a valuable lesson in civics. Better yet, it could hold hope for America.

Fallout from student activism in reaction to the massacre of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland has ranged from administrative support for student protesters at some schools to discipline at others. It has also stirred counterprotests by other student groups that come with heckling and name-calling — just like grownup government. This creates some great learning moments. Debate is a good thing. Reasoned debate can be a teaching tool in a world where differences of opinion on most any topic are inevitable.

But when the debate deteriorates into name-calling, messages become lost.

For instance, the Associated Press recently reported that a group of students from at Hillcrest High School in Idaho Falls, Idaho, gathered at the high school spirit rock. There were some arguments about guns, one student said, but it was peaceful and students respected one another’s views. Later, a rally at the same high school drew a counterprotest that devolved into a shouting match. Kylee Denny, a Hillcrest junior who helped organize the rally, said it was supposed to be for school safety, not gun restrictions, but some misunderstood, becoming angry and calling names.

A teacher in Woodbury, Conn., has the right idea. After about 75 of Nonnewaug High School’s 750-member student body walked out recently, about a dozen opponents followed, chanting “NRA is the only way!”

The next day, a civics teacher diffused some of the tension by letting students take turns sharing their opinions on the walkout.

We’ve seen deadlocked government at the both the state and federal levels. Former New York Rep. Richard Hanna constantly bemoaned the dysfunction in Washington and cited it as one of the reasons he decided not to seek another term.

“You can’t get anything done,” said Hanna, a moderate who was always willing to listen to the opposition in search of compromise.

But he found that to be more and more challenging in an atmosphere where egos and self-preservation trumped what’s best for America and its people. That needs to change. If young people can learn the pluses of protest and value of good debate now, it can be an asset to them in whatever they might do. As Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts stated in a recent column: “Protest is an expression of belief in the possibility of change.”

Saturday’s “March for Our Lives,” planned by students across the nation to demand that their lives and safety become a priority and that we end gun violence and mass shootings in our schools, is an effort we must not ignore.

Government can’t fix this problem, folks. We have to do it. We can begin by listening to our children.

This editorial, distributed by Tribune Content Agency, was first published by the Observer-Dispatch, Utica, N.Y.