Editor’s note: During the National School Walkout, schools decided how, and if, students were able to protest without ramifications. In some areas, entire schools joined in the protest, while in others only one student participated in the walkout. I personally want to applaud the students who joined the National School Walkout. Their voices and bravery are powerful in the fight for gun control. I also want to applaud the parents, teachers, schools and communities who supported these students right to protest. Together, we have the opportunity to create change now, not later. Please join me in demanding an #NoNRAMoney pledge from our elected representatives. Enough is enough!
Many schools across the country took part in the National Anti-School Violence Demonstration and Awareness Day (NASViDA), exactly one month to the day of the Parkland, Florida High School massacre. Here in Southern California’s third-largest school district, high school students and district officials collaborated on a plan to allow students to express their right to protest while doing so inside the safety of their campuses. Most of the eleven high school campuses encouraged their students to gather and march in unity. Many wore the color orange as a sign of solidarity.
The marches ended at their football fields, or an outdoor quad area, where the names of the seventeen victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting were read. The students reflected on a moment of silence, after each name. In the end, Taps played in honor of all the victims.
You’d expect a group of high school students to be loud and noisy, but these students were the exact opposite; they were there to pay their respects in a peaceful manner.
The on-campus activities, during lunchtime, included booths for writing letters to elected officials and letters of support to the students and staff of Stoneman Douglas. There was also an information booth about gun violence data, a booth where students painted the palms of their hands red and imprinted those red handprints on white poster paper, and cut out paper hearts written with messages of love and support.
The students, I spoke with afterward, indicated that they participated in today’s event because they believe their voices matter, they want to be heard and they’ve had enough of gun violence. One high school senior even indicated that her generation would have a positive impact on the future of this country.
In Pictures: Students Protest Gun Violence during the #NationalSchoolWalkout
Embed from Getty ImagesEmbed from Getty Images
Let’s chat! Did you let your child join the National School Walkout to protest gun violence? Why or why not? Let us know in a comment!
{ 0 comments… add one }