What Happened?

On March 14 at 10 a.m., students from all over the country participated in a national walk out in order to honor the victims of the Parkland shooting. At the same time, several schools held a walk-in in order to promote a change and let their voices be heard.

In order to keep students safe, the Monroe High administration decided that students should not participate in the walk-out, but rather do 17 acts of kindness in honor of the 17 fallen victims.

At 10 a.m. there was a tribute to the victims as the names were read over the intercom to the school by junior Eleni Wohl. Despite all of this, there were still students that decided to protest. Against the wishes of the administration, students left their classes and circled around the flagpole in order to honor the victims and let their voices be heard. Students voiced their concerns, and there was a moment of silence for the victims.

Student Reactions

Senior JaySee Hall said she felt good to be a part of the walk out and wished more students could have participated.

“I didn’t want to just be a person standing on the sidelines watching. I’m glad I was involved in some way to support this,” Hall said.

Senior Grace Wood said that she walked out to remember the fallen and was proud of her school and its actions.

“Today, I walked out in remembrance of all the victims, survivors, and families affected,” Wood said. “I took the opportunity to voice my concerns because I felt that while we assembled, things were taking a different turn. My intentions were not to offend, but to inform. I am so proud that Monroe High didn’t conform.”

“I am extremely grateful for Mrs. Kreps as well,” Wood added. “She has been a great mentor. Her number one concern was our safety and that’s what I was trying to inform our students about.”

While the main purpose of the walk out was to honor the victims of the Parkland shooting, some students used the walk out as a way to voice their concerns on the lack of gun control.

Sophomore Lauren Custer said that the point of the walk out was to evoke change.

“There needs to be a change about gun violence in the United States. (There needs to be) stricter gun laws,” Custer said.

Freshman Chancey Boyce said that while he did support the walk out, it was not effective because it wasn’t taken seriously.

“Plenty of people were against the walk out and just laughed at the protesters,” Boyce said. “The school was in support of the walk out to an extent, but (a small amount of) kids outside isn’t going to change much.”

Freshman Abigail Atherton said that her teacher wouldn’t allow her class to participate and was told that anyone that walked out would be written up. Atherton said she felt annoyed that she wasn’t able to exercise her 1st amendment right.

“I’m annoyed that we weren’t given a chance to even say how we felt about it, and I feel like it was a direct attack on our first amendment rights,” Atherton said.

Sophomore Brian Lewis said that he thinks those who walked are beginning to miss the original point of the walkout. “I feel like people are missing the point now. Y’all walked, but I feel like (those that walked out) are targeting the school now instead of honoring the victims,” Lewis said.