This Wednesday, March 14, Irvington students joined students across the country decided to walk out as a peaceful protest of the current state of school safety across the nation and to honor the victims of the shooting in Stoneman Douglas High School Parkland, Fla.
Students walked out of class at 10:00 am and stayed outside for 17 minutes, one minute to honor each victim of the most recent school shooting in Florida.
According to a CNN report, this protest has been organized and proposed by the Youth Branch of the Women’s March, called EMPOWER, and promoted by the a group of vocal student activists from Parkland.
According to student council members and leaders of the walk out, this protest seeks to show our nation that students do have a voice and will stand up against injustice when they see it. They are hoping to raise awareness of school safety issues, demonstrate unity with the other students around the nation, and express sympathy for the victims and survivors of the Parkland shooting.
Schools have responded to these ideas of a protest in a wide range of ways, including: suspending students, detentions, or some sort of greater action such as a letter to help strengthen their position.
Irvington has decided to make students write a letter to Stoneman Douglas High School in support, write a letter to a congressman about gun control or any other topic they are advocating, or they must serve a detention as a consequence.
The Irvington administration, in an email to the community, cited in the code of conduct that there must be some type of consequence for missing class time, no matter the reasoning, but understands that these actions are meaningful and give the students a voice.
Many Irvington High School and Middle School students participated in the walk out. Students signed shirts to send to Stoneman Douglas. Student leaders gave speeches, and organized a moment of silence during the seventeen minutes to pay their respects to the victims of the horrific Parkland shooting.
Student council in the high school wrote a letter expressing the general opinions of the school safety. Students were asked to sign the letter during the event or anytime during the day in the high school atrium.
Natalie Kletter, a member of student council, recognized each of the seventeen victims of the Parkland shooting and gave a quick remark about each one. She then explained why each individual had received a different shirt depending on their interests.
After the speeches by her and other members of student council, such as Eva Gilbert and Braden Donoian, students were asked to remain silent and sign the various shirts and the letter.
At the same time, students from across the country were also holding their own walk out protests in order to create change and spark a movement that will do more than wait until the next tragedy happens.
As the letter written by student council states, “Until every student can walk into a school without fearing for their safety, until every teacher can focus on providing the best education in their classroom without worrying if they locked their door should an intruder come in, and until our government can deliver more than just thoughts and prayers in the wake of a national tragedy, we will not be silenced.”
