For 17 minutes yesterday, students across America — including some at our local schools — took a stand, and boy, did it fire people up.

One month after 17 students and staff members were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida on Valentine’s Day, students across America participated in the nationwide demonstration in hopes of inspiring change that would make their schools safer and more secure.

Minutes after posting a video of Buchanan High School students chanting messages like “enough is enough” on our Facebook page Wednesday, dozens of people had commented, shared and reacted to the post, and more than 1,000 had viewed the clip — and the reactions kept on coming.

Some questioned whether students simply wanted to get out of class. They challenged administrators to expel the students or give them detention. Many accused the students of not having authentic motives — simply wanting to defy authority.

Perhaps a portion of these students had less than stellar motives, but the time put into creating posters, thinking up chants and organizing the rally proves that another portion of the students were committed to inciting change.

Whether you like their message or not, they clearly got your attention.

Let’s put aside the politics of the issue. Forget your stance on gun laws and your political affiliations. Look at the issue through the eyes of a teenager.

In the years following the Sandy Hook shootings (and before that, Columbine and a host of other tragedies) these students have been inundated by constant reminders that schools just like theirs all over the country are not safe. The safety of a place that should be considered a sanctuary for these youth has been called into question. While we shake our heads in denial that it won’t happen here, the tragedies hit closer and closer to home.

Can you blame these children for being afraid? I know I am.

As young people have done since the beginning of time, they turned their fear into power. They shouted about the issue. They took a stand, and that stand forced people to look that issue straight in the eye.

At Buchanan and Dowagiac school districts, when administrators and teachers became aware that students planned to participate in the walkout, they prepared the students, offering them a safe way to express their feelings, while still respecting the students’ autonomy.

Speakers were lined up to share messages about school safety. Students were reminded that actions have consequences. Knowing the walkout was being organized, school leaders defined parameters that allowed students to speak up in a safe way that followed the rules.

These educators should be applauded for allowing students to use their First Amendment rights, for listening to their concerns and for finding resources to answer students’ questions.

As students revel in the impact their stance made, I challenge them to prove those criticizing their actions wrong by continuing the conversation and carrying the message they spread through their day-to-day lives. I hope they show the naysayers that they take the issue seriously, were not simply looking for a way to cut class, and are committed to holding up their end of the bargain when it comes to inciting change.

These students learned a valuable lesson Wednesday. Their voices matter — inside and outside those 17 minutes.

Ambrosia Neldonis the general manager at Leader Publications. She can be reached by phone at (269) 687-7700 or by email at ambrosia.neldon@leaderpub.com