Students walkout to show support for victims, opposition to violence
by madalyn thompson
It has been a month since the Parkland shooting in Florida.
In that time, a movement has taken place, driven by the survivors of the Florida shooting and even by those who have never witnessed such a bloody and gruesome tragedy.
On March 14, 481 students walked out of their classes at 10 AM.
Senior Stephanie Wang and sophomores Cecilia Harold and Helen Forbeck organized the walkout.
Their goal was to stand with those victims and thousands if not millions of others to say, “Enough is enough.”
Schools around the nation followed suit, walking out of their classes to stand in protest or to march.
All these things will be done with the same goals in mind: for students to change their futures and mourn the people who were lost, to raise their voices for a world with stronger gun laws and regulations, to push for change, and to mourn a great and horrifying loss.
Organizers were clear that their actions were not against the school or the district.
Senior Stephanie Wang described the process of planning the walkout.
“I started the Twitter page @608HEAROURVOICE to create a space for students and the community to start talking about gun control/violence respectfully. From there, I got in contact with Cecelia Harold (@CHS_WALKS) and Helen Forbeck to start planning the details of Wednesday's protest.,” she said.
She was surprised at how well it came together.
“It was actually kind of amazing,” she said. “All three of us started off separately planning for March 14th, but through our research of this event, we stumbled upon each other's plans and ideas. We all approached this protest from different perspectives, but our dedication to the cause and our respect for each other ultimately made it easy to formulate a plan that we thought would honor the Parkland victims and represent the movement well.”
In that time, a movement has taken place, driven by the survivors of the Florida shooting and even by those who have never witnessed such a bloody and gruesome tragedy.
On March 14, 481 students walked out of their classes at 10 AM.
Senior Stephanie Wang and sophomores Cecilia Harold and Helen Forbeck organized the walkout.
Their goal was to stand with those victims and thousands if not millions of others to say, “Enough is enough.”
Schools around the nation followed suit, walking out of their classes to stand in protest or to march.
All these things will be done with the same goals in mind: for students to change their futures and mourn the people who were lost, to raise their voices for a world with stronger gun laws and regulations, to push for change, and to mourn a great and horrifying loss.
Organizers were clear that their actions were not against the school or the district.
Senior Stephanie Wang described the process of planning the walkout.
“I started the Twitter page @608HEAROURVOICE to create a space for students and the community to start talking about gun control/violence respectfully. From there, I got in contact with Cecelia Harold (@CHS_WALKS) and Helen Forbeck to start planning the details of Wednesday's protest.,” she said.
She was surprised at how well it came together.
“It was actually kind of amazing,” she said. “All three of us started off separately planning for March 14th, but through our research of this event, we stumbled upon each other's plans and ideas. We all approached this protest from different perspectives, but our dedication to the cause and our respect for each other ultimately made it easy to formulate a plan that we thought would honor the Parkland victims and represent the movement well.”
Wednesday's walkout was only an introduction to our movement. We still have a lot of work to do and a long ways to go.-Stephanie Wang(12), Co-organizer of the walkout
As the 481 students participating in the walk out marched out of Craig, they received orange ribbons, and grasped signs asking “Am I Next?” and “Protect this House” and “Common Sense Gun Laws.”
Their signs spoke of all these things but there voices continued to speak louder.
“I am not 18, and yet I stand here hoping to make a difference, and this is how. I don’t want to die here, something needs to change,” said senior Christian Bly, surrounded by her friends and fellow classmates holding up signs.
Junior Malcolm Eady had similar reasons for joining the walkout.
“This is a way for students to get their voice out in politics,” he said. “Since we’re under 18 we don’t have a chance to say our political views. This is a way to let the world and our nation know that we want better gun control for our own protection, and so we can continue with our education.”
Parkland is the latest in a string of violent events.
Since 2013, shortly after the Sandy Hook shooting, there have been 290 school shootings, and 17 school shootings 2018 alone.
In the past 1,870 days there have 1,624 shootings, with 1,875 dead and 6,848 injured.
Wang said, “Wednesday's walkout was only an introduction to our movement. We still have a lot of work to do and a long ways to go. Looking ahead, the next event that I will be focusing on is the #50milesmore march.”
Wang continues thinking forward from this past Wednesdays walk out.
“Wisconsin's #50milesmore march will start in our capital and end in Traxler Park,” she said.
On that day students will march about 13 miles and hold a rally at Traxler Park featuring student speakers. The event is planned to start on March 25th (to keep up the momentum of the 24th capital protests) and end on the 28th.
“We are still looking for students to participate in the march as well as participate in the rally on the 28th,” she said.
For more information on the march from Madison to Traxler park, or to register for the march visit 50milesmore.org.
Click the link below for footage of the walkout:
https://twitter.com/janesvillec/status/973936399530340352?s=21