Are the kids alright?

The students who gathered March 24 to #MarchforOurLives demonstrated the passion and conviction of youth after the horrible school shooting in Parkland Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school on St. Valentine’s Day this year.

Public policy should not be, but too often is, based on raw emotion. That is why adults, not children, write laws. The sentiments expressed by the marching students were overwhelmingly in favor of banning or restricting gun ownership by private citizens. Many were heard saying that gun ownership should be restricted to the government and the police. Even more troubling, many actually believed they could be next for a mass shooting. They repeatedly said they do not feel safe in school. They want more school security, but many disagree with either arming teachers or hiring more school resource officers.

The marchers were ignorant that the number of school shootings of four or more students is exceedingly rare. Both school shootings and gun violence in general are in a steep, decades-long decline.

The chances of dying in any kind of mass shooting in America are 1 in 11,125; of dying in a car accident is 1 in 491; of drowning 1 in 1,133; and of choking on food is 1 in 3,461. For the Parkland Students, this fear may be excusable. Their fear may be analogous to fear of flying. Airline travel is the safest of any transportation, but every plane accident is likely to bring a high death toll—and receive days of coverage on cable news and social media.

Knowing how safe airline travel is and how unlikely it is to be in a crash can be forgotten quickly if a crash involves your loved ones. So the children of Parkland can be forgiven for their fears. But not the 100,000 who marched with them. It is safe to say nearly all of them never experienced a mass shooting or even knew someone involved in one.

Perhaps the reason why the kids are so skittish is because they are the PATRIOT Act generation. They grew up experiencing lockdown America all their lives. They have never boarded a plane without the Transportation Security Administration security theatre. They have been told endlessly by adults that America is in grave danger of imminent terrorist attacks, that we have to fight endless wars overseas to keep the homeland safe.

And sometimes a rare terrorist event does occur, such as the Pulse dance club massacre in nearby Orlando. They rarely hear someone in authority point out that the odds of being a victim of a terrorist attack in America are even lower than being in a mass school shooting.

It would be interesting to know how many of the marchers walk or bike to school. They are also the generation most likely to be driven to school by their parents. Helicopter parents often call the police on those parents who let their kids walk to school. Many American parents believe a pimp will kidnap an unguarded 10 year old to a life of degradation. It has gotten so bad that Utah just passed a “Free Range Kids” bill to protect parents who allow their children to explore on their own.

Like many adult voters, the marchers are far more comfortable taking away others’ freedom than to have theirs infringed.

Many of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas students objected to the new school security policy that only clear plastic backpacks would be allowed. They used social media to call their school “Marjory Stoneman Douglas Penitentiary.”

They have yet to learn to be careful what you wish for.