Wednesday February 14th students across the country walked out of their classrooms, and all they asked for was safer schools and stronger gun-control. The walkout was part tribute to the 17 lives lost in the mass shooting at Marjory Stone Douglas High School. Some students waved signs and chanted while others sat in silence. At James Monroe the students sat silent in the commons for 17 minutes, 1 minute for every life lost in the mass shooting. According to CNN the students who participated in the walkout only demanded three things; ban assault weapons, require universal background checks before gun sales and pass a gun violence restraining order law that would allow courts to disarm people who display warning signs of violent behavior. A 7th grade student from JMMS who participated in the walked explained to us why she participated, “I participated in the walkout to help draw attention to the fact that this is a big deal and were not going to stop until we get what we want. I feel like our school really paid more attention to what really happened in Florida and how we can help prevent this from happening again.”.
There were some students who chose not to participate in the walkout. It’s not that they didn’t agree in the reason for the protest, they just thought that some of their peers used the walkout as an excuse to get out of class. Although there were students who did not agree with the reasons for the walkout at all. A senior at Hilliard Davidson High School got suspended for not walking out with his classmates. While everyone else in his class walked out he stayed in his classroom and only did his homework. Once his teacher and classmates got back to class he was sent to the principal’s office. At JMMS there was a couple students who did choose not to walkout, we spoke to one of them, “I believe in what my other classmates were protesting about, but I felt like if I had gone out into the commons half the students out there didn’t even know what they were even protesting”.
Our school had over 500 students participate in the walkout and we did amazing. Everyone sat completely silent and didn’t talk once, and after the 17 minutes were over the students quietly stood up and walked back to their classrooms.
There were some students who chose not to participate in the walkout. It’s not that they didn’t agree in the reason for the protest, they just thought that some of their peers used the walkout as an excuse to get out of class. Although there were students who did not agree with the reasons for the walkout at all. A senior at Hilliard Davidson High School got suspended for not walking out with his classmates. While everyone else in his class walked out he stayed in his classroom and only did his homework. Once his teacher and classmates got back to class he was sent to the principal’s office. At JMMS there was a couple students who did choose not to walkout, we spoke to one of them, “I believe in what my other classmates were protesting about, but I felt like if I had gone out into the commons half the students out there didn’t even know what they were even protesting”.
Our school had over 500 students participate in the walkout and we did amazing. Everyone sat completely silent and didn’t talk once, and after the 17 minutes were over the students quietly stood up and walked back to their classrooms.