Page 116 of Through Quick and Quinn
Luca: Where did you hear that?
Matson: Through Quick and Quinn.
Luca: Shoot, I didn’t hear that. I mean, I don’t even think my parents knew about it but I don’t think they’d care anyway. My dad would actually think it’s cool.
Matson: Dude, I showed my mom the site like a month or so ago? I don’t know. Anyway, she loved it, bro. She wanted to create her own username and hop on. I was like, n+ + +o get outta here.
Luca: That’s awesome. I’m trying to think about the recent topics. Oh, like the vax stuff? Chicken pox and all that? You think that would tick off parents?
Matson: I don’t know. Maybe the trafficking stuff, bro. That crap’s intense.
Luca: Oh, that’s right. That’s probably it.
Matson: Yeah, who knows. There were some crazy topics on there though. Like the moon landing, bro? I can’t believe I’m saying it, but that crap was fake!
Luca: For sure. Dude, what about the Titanic? Bruh.
Matson: Oh snap, yeah. Ha, I’m actually surprised it took this long for Seek to get ripped down, now that I think about it.
Luca: Right?
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Note to self:
Oh. My. Gosh.
It is insane how quickly something can turn on a dime. Three days ago, I was the calmest I’ve ever been, and now I’m ready for battle. I’m suiting up, putting on that armor, and I’m ready to take the fight head on.
Quick and I were sitting on the quad today at lunchtime, bouncing around various ideas for solutions to our little censorship problem, when a group of four people approached us. They looked familiar, only because I’ve seen their faces on campus at some point over the last four years, but they clearly knew who Quick and I were. They were avid Seekers & Speakers and were infuriated by the shutdown of our site. They introduced themselves and then got straight to the point, asking what we were going to do about the situation. Without even giving us the opportunity to respond, one of them shouted, “We should organize a protest!” and in that moment, Quick and I both knew that not only was it going to happen, but that we wouldn’t be able to stop it even if we tried. This is so much bigger than us.
We ended up having a very productive impromptu meeting with them right then and there. We agreed that our protest would be on Friday after school, since that would allow us ample time to prepare and we wouldn’t be dismissed as just a group of students who didn’t want to attend class. Someone volunteered to make flyers with the information and to post them around school, while a few others said they would make a bunch of posters. We brainstormed what the posters would say, because it was very important to Quick and I that our protest would be deemed respectful and respectable by any given passerby. We landed on a few phrases. “Free thinkers love free speech” is my favorite, and leave it to Quick to love “What’s wrong with a little research?” We came up with other phrases, like “We dig to decide” and “Serious Students Seek & Speak.” I like them all, and I think they are appropriate and powerful.
I have given this a lot of thought and have deeply considered where this aggrieved parent is coming from. I understand that the topics can be intense, but it is totally voluntary. And I’ve read back over the comments a million times. The posts are mostly questions and links, and we’ve all become proficient at finding reputable sources. In my opinion, if a parent is upset about his or her child reading information from a .gov website, perhaps the feelings should be directed towards the government, rather than the reader? Never mind the fact that this parent’s child is most likely an upperclassman, which means he or she is nearing adulthood, and goodness knows everyone sees much worse on social media and even plain old television in general!
I’m super amped up. I’m ready for this protest. We will be respectful, but we will make our voices heard. Oh, and I am not going to make the same mistake that I did before. I am going downstairs right now to tell my parents about the protest. Heck, I’m even going to invite them.
…Q
+ + +
Hey Geoffrey,
Woah. I know Quinn’s a passionate person, but wow. I’ve never seen her like this. This protest is almost like a momma-bear thing for her. They came after her baby, and she’s not taking it lightly.
I don’t think I realized her leadership capabilities until this week. Watching her in action with some of the people from S&S has been such a trip. She’s always been focused and organized, but to see her running the show? She’s good at it, too. She listens to everyone’s ideas, validates where everyone’s coming from, somehow comes up with compromises on the spot, and motivates everyone to put it all into action. She’s a frickin’ leadership genius. I had no idea.
I wonder how it will all go on Friday at the protest. Quinn and I are in total agreement and we’ve made it clear to everyone that the second it becomes disrespectful in any way, we are shutting it down. We want admin to take us seriously, and acting like entitled idiots is not the way to go.
Quinn’s hopeful, of course. She thinks S&S will be up and running again by Monday. I do not. I think it’s dead in the water. But we’re going to see it through. I hope she’s right, but if she’s not, I’ll be here to help her pick up the pieces.
I gotta say it again. Seeing her in this new light this week? Wow. I love her more than ever.
Wish you were here.
-Deck
03/27/2025
