March For Our Lives is a student-led protest against school shootings which pushes for gun control in America. Placards strongly decrying the use of guns were displayed on the day of the protest and my favourite is that of Brittany Sinitch which read ‘I lost my classroom and students. My roster is not the same. My heart is not the same, DO SOMETHING.’
Brittany Sinitch is a 9th grade English teacher in America whom I follow on Instagram and whose creative teaching ideas inspire me greatly until her school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School became victim of the Parkland shooting on February 14th, 2018 with seventeen lives lost. After days of being offline, she resurfaced to describe the horror of trying to protect her kids, of gunshots by her window and how she and her students had to vacate their classroom forever. She’s back to school now, but her life as a teacher has definitely changed.
Following the Parkland shooting, teachers all over the US united online, creating awareness on the dangers of gun ownership and speaking up for gun control, for change. Hash tags like #ArmMeWith, launched by two teachers in other schools, Brittany Wheaton and Olivia Bertels, went viral and more protests by students – the survivors of the Parkland shooting – led to the formation of a gun-control advocacy group called Never Again MSD which cumulated to the March For Our Lives demonstration held on Saturday, March 24th 2018 and attended by two million protesters in the US and more all over the world. Remember, this protest was initiated and led by students; young people under 18, fully backed by their teachers and community.
In Nigeria, we have had our own share of violence: Boko Haram bombings, herdsmen killings, abduction of Chibok girls and most recently, Dapchi girls. There have been news of the Dapchi girls being released, with five reportedly dead and one still held captive for refusing to renounce her faith. Where is the rage? Why are teachers of the abducted girls not speaking? What is the school saying? What are schools all over Nigeria doing to stand in solidarity with the affected school? And the Ministry of Education? Do we even teach our students that their voices matter? Do we know that our voices matter? How are we so divided, so unconcerned, so powerless? How do we just move on?
We have failed ourselves, as Nigerians. We have failed. But we must raise our children differently. We, teachers, must teach our students differently. We must realise that the goal of education isn’t just to produce intellectuals. We must teach our students to be leaders, not just A students. We must teach them to be aware and conscious. To ask questions. To fight. Only then can things begin to change.
Jennifer Emelife is a school teacher based in Abuja.
