On March 14, students across America banded together, with one voice and one agenda, to take a stand against the Gun Violence that is plaguing the American school system. In the wake of the tragic events at Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 students and staff members dead, students across the nation came together to rise up and use their voices to say, "enough is enough," taking a positive step forward in ending gun violence. Driven by their determination and using their voices to speak to the masses, their message was clear. No child should ever have to run away from a killer with a gun in their school again.

So, they stood up. They walked out.

What is National Walkout Day?

"Walkout" was quickly set into motion by the organizers of the January 2017 Women's March, which orchestrated National Walkout Day. This quickly gained the necessary attention of American students nationwide. 17 minutes for the 17 lives who were tragically lost were honored and remembered, while making a political statement to the government which spoke, "we need better gun laws and we demand them now!" But what started out to be a positive movement quickly escalated into something less motivating.

"Walkupnotout" is a movement that was born in the midst of 'walkout' telling students instead of walking out of your classrooms, students should be encouraged to walk up to students who are being victimized by bullying and taking a stand to protect them during their need.

This way the student can feel safe and it eliminates the threat of the student having the tendency to hurt others like in Parkland. This movement encourages students to be kind instead of protesting. This has 'walkout 'and "walkupnotout" movements at war with each other, but do they have to be?

Can both movements live in harmony?

Instead of "walkout" and "walkup" being at war with each other, why can't students do both instead of choosing one or the other? What the "walkup" movement seems to neglect is that the students are walking out to raise awareness on safer, stricter gun laws to prevent guns from falling into the hands and stealing lives of future victims.

"Walkup" is misguided, but it does bring up a good point as well. We as human beings, young or old, need to spread kindness, love and respect to one another. This is very true, but we need both movements instead of either or to truly make a difference when it comes to gun control and gun violence. Kindness goes a long way, but actions speak louder than words, and when both come together it can create something more beautiful and powerful than just standing alone.