Column: Millennials need to create a new blueprint

West Coast parents were mostly left out of the March for Our Lives protests last week because our children were still sleeping.

The Laguna Beach event started at 10 a.m. Saturday, which is still middle of the night for most millennials.

Those who did show up were bleary-eyed and pale, similar to how they look in the flickering light of a Netflix binge session.

The line of teens at the nearby coffee shop was longer than the protest front.

But for those kids who showed up at Main Beach, they had one thing to count on: annoying parents.

Smartphones at the ready, proud parents were in a Facebook frenzy. Think about it: At what other time in history could parents boast about their protesting children?

The only saving grace — from the kids’ perspectives — is that they will never look at Facebook to see the humiliation.

But it was interesting to witness the diversity in ages. Elderly protesters from the 1960s were counseling young people who could be their grandchildren. It was like a PKT, a Protest Knowledge Transfer.

The old blueprint, however, with sit-ins, fastings and riots, is clearly different than today’s antiseptic social media efficiency.

I could not help but wonder, looking at the fresh-faced kids, if they will be ready to sustain the fight, especially when the glow of phase one is over.

Phase one is always polite and academic. Leading, articulate voices passionately explain the cause and try to gain sympathy by appealing to the moral high ground. Think Gandhi.

Phase two gets a little more testy.

The old blueprint would result in acts of civil disobedience that threaten the power structure. Think Martin Luther King Jr.

If none of that works, the last phase gets violent and painful. Think deleting Facebook.

Are millennials ready for this cycle of civil disobedience or will they create something new? I don’t know.

So far I’m not entirely convinced they are ready for the revolution, as it were. The Saturday protests — with the clever signs, chants and drum circles — stylistically were the same as any other polite rally. With all due respect, it’s a paint-by-the-numbers strategy that seems to dissipate as soon as it’s over.

Sure, the backstory is compelling and heart-wrenching. Students are getting killed in schools. But what about the hateful white supremacist rallies or the Black Lives Matter movement?

All of these protests matter.

The March for Our Lives protest involves children, which makes it more emotional for adults. As a parent, I would rather not be in this position.

I don’t want to be “proud” of my kid for participating in a protest.

A 15-year-old should not have to be a spokesperson against assault weapons.

Yes, we want them to grow up and have good critical-thinking skills but not test them with life-or-death scenarios before they can even drive.

I just wonder, why now? Why not after Sandy Hook?

Personally, I thought that was going to be last straw that broke the NRA’s back. But it didn’t.

And maybe that’s why my lingering frustration has clouded today’s March for Our Lives attempt at protest.

What happens when this energy fades? How can millennials with their notorious short attention spans expect to drive change through months — years? — of monolithic bureaucracies, legislative agendas or political action committees?

We can’t get them to sit through an entire city council meeting.

The nobility now is admirable. The script is completely understandable. But will it be enough?

Throughout history the old blueprints — in some form or another — worked because someone or something got hurt.

If millennials used those critical-thinking skills, they could figure out who to hurt.

And it doesn’t have to be violent.

Think about a vote.com.

DAVID HANSEN is a writer and Laguna Beach resident. He can be reached at [email protected].