Phoebe Barr ’19:
Across the country on March 14, students participated in a 17-minute school walkout to commemorate the lives of the 17 students and faculty killed in the Parkland School Shooting. The event also served as a platform to protest gun violence and push for greater gun control. Beginning at 10:00 am and lasting until 10:17 am, the walkout spanned across different time zones in different parts of the country. At Episcopal, over one hundred middle and upper school students as well as faculty participated in the walkout, which took place during H block by the flagpoles.
“I feel like, after the Parkland shooting,” said Adelynn Anderson ‘18, “that was the last straw for a lot of people. This is the school shooting that I’ve seen the most widespread response to, and the most actual changes.”
Laura Patterson ‘21 was pleased with EA’s decision that allowed students to attend, noting, “There’s a lot of places where they’re not allowed to protest, so I’m glad that EA didn’t stop people. A lot of people actually did come out.”
Sydney Zebrowitz ‘19 said she chose to walk out because “It’s vital that our generation participate in something that can affect us. The fact that people are able to walk into a school and harm faculty and kids has an effect on the outcome of our lives. And our generation can now have a voice in the future.”
Many hoped their actions would send a message to lawmakers. “We don’t want to repeal the Second Amendment,” said Grace Smith ‘19. “We just want to have stricter gun laws and restrictions on the amount of guns people can get.”
Anderson stated that if she were able to speak directly to a member of Congress, she “would tell them to do everything in their power to ban the sale of military-style assault weapons, point-blank, because I don’t think that they are things that any regular American citizen should have. Ultimately, I would like the end goal to be little to no guns in the hands of ordinary citizens at all.” She cited the restrictive gun laws implemented by Australia following a 1996 shooting as evidence that gun control can be effective.
“The walkout is 100% a bipartisan issue,” says Alex Oliva ‘19. “The background checks that have been agreed upon by both parties aren’t being enforced strongly, and the rules that both parties have agreed upon are lax, and they need to be changed.”
Other students, however, shared reasons for not participating in the walkout. Mackenzie Lee ‘19 said that she didn’t think greater gun control was the answer to gun violence. “I think that guns are controlled by the people who shoot them, not the guns themselves,” she said. “I think of it like a car crash. The person who crashed the car is responsible for their accident, not the car itself.” Mitch Pagano ‘19 said, “If you believe everyone is entitled to their own opinions, then how could you think you are being true to your morals if you are taking away people’s opinions and rights? If guns did become outlawed, that would not stop people from obtaining guns.” He pointed out that the outlawing of drugs has not caused people to stop using them, and that Prohibition did not stop people from buying alcohol. “Furthermore,” he said, “If guns become illegal, the only people who will have guns will be criminals. You will not be stopping the bad people from doing bad things, either with a gun or something else. You will be stopping a family from going hunting on the weekends.”
Young Politicians organized the event with the help of Student Council, and student leaders of the club spoke to the crowd during the walkout. Emma Sargent ‘18, a leader of the Young Politicians club, described how the club had organized the walkout at EA, secured permission from the administration, and ensured that no students would be prevented from walking out because of tests or quizzes on the day. “It’s incredibly essential that students are involved in advocacy surrounding issues that they’re passionate about,” she said. “Young people are often a very underrepresented population. We aren’t 18, so we can’t vote, and there won’t always be an election at the right time for us. There’s no other way to get your voice heard.”
At the walkout, Schuyler Kresge ‘18 read the names of the seventeen students killed at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The lower school chaplain, Michelle Bullock, then led the crowd gathered there in prayer. Finally, a letter written to the students in Florida was placed out for all the participants to sign. Expressing condolences and support, the letter stated, “We admire your resilience in the face of adversity and see your school as a role model in fighting injustices in our world… we stand in solidarity with you.”