From 12:00 to 12:35, Friday, September 5, hundreds of students at RAHS participated in a school walkout against gun violence. Organized by Students Demand Action—a group of young activists with over 900 groups throughout the country—the protest became nationally recognized with over 30 schools participating in Minnesota, including RAHS.
The Annunciation Catholic School Shooting, which took place on August 27th, just a few miles away from our own school, resulted in the death of two children, murdered while in Wednesday Mass. In response to the tragedy, students took a stand by walking out of their classrooms and schools. RAHS’s own student body walked out the front door during third period, proudly carrying signs and posters reading “Protect Kids Not Guns” and “Policy and Change-Not Thoughts and Prayers”.
Ariel Jimenez, a student involved in Students Demand Action, helped to organize the walkout at RAHS with juniors Theo Burrell and Eliana Erdmann. “I started joining rallies, started joining walkouts” Jimenez said when asked why he decided to organize this walkout. “We want more enforced laws from lawmakers…we demand to make a change.”
“I saw a lot of my family and younger siblings be terrified of going to school and having to learn how to lock down and sit in a corner,” Burell commented.
Echo Johnson, a senior participant, added, “this [walkout] means safety for children and advocating for ourselves.”
Students walked from the front entrance of the school to Grace Church, to the tennis courts on the corner of Lexington and County B2 and then to the entrance to the football field, where Jimenez called for 30 seconds of silence for the lives lost.
Post walkout, Eliana Erdmann reflected on the experience–“I was really excited about the turnout…I’m really excited that people decided to show up for their rights and tell lawmakers that we need to be safe and we need to be safe now.”
So, what does a walkout really do for a cause? “Things can feel kinda hopeless when it comes to…action against things like gun violence, and I think that hope is definitely one way to combat that,” 12th grader Evan Bierschied suggested.
Seeing people taking a stand shows that there is no singular person interested in changing policies on gun violence. Blake Ladoucer, sophomore, said, “It means we can come together as a community to fight for what’s right.”
Along with gathering for a single cause, walkouts interrupt the regular school day. Walking out is shocking and disruptive. It forces people to look and pay attention to what is happening in our schools. By walking out, the student body says, “look at me”–and it worked. People driving past honked their horns in agreement, police cars blocked off the roads and made it difficult to ignore the hoard of teenagers walking past. Students shouted call and response chants like, “books–not bullets”.
Young Americans have the right to fight for their beliefs. “The politics should change,” said 11th grade Mitsubishi Espinoza.
Students are calling for reforms in gun laws and restrictions. In Minnesota, legally obtaining a firearm requires a permit to carry, which involves being 18 and going through a background check.
In other states, like Wyoming, there is no permit or background checks required to possess a gun. In fact, only 21 states have a permit, according to handgunlaws.us.
As Favour Audi (10) put it: “people who shouldn’t be having guns, shouldn’t be having guns.”
After the walkout, many wonder—how to continue to fight for the things they believe in? Changes won’t happen overnight, but they won’t happen at all if protesting stops at the walkout. Participating in more rallies and peaceful protests, donating, and writing letters to local and national government can help push for change. Hope is the most important thing.
