(CAPTION: Students design posters after school in a classroom for the April 20 walkout during 2nd period.)
Students have organized a walkout to remember the lives that have been taken through mass shootings, and to promote safer gun laws, which takes place Friday, April 20, and marks the 19th anniversary of the infamous Columbine mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado.
The April 20 walkout is connected to a series of national school walkouts originally organized by students from Parkland High School in Parkland, Florida in response to the mass shooting that occurred on Valentine’s day this year at their school. They’ve invited students across the country to participate tomorrow.
Senior Ric Galvan took the lead in organizing the walkout on our campus, and is encouraging students interested in participating to peacefully and in an orderly fashion, exit their classrooms at 10am, and gather in the front circle, around the flagpole. He plans for any overflow of students to file around the circle to make the walkout more organized.
“The main [goal] is to pay tribute to people who lost their lives to [mass shootings], through incidents that should not happen. It is also to show that we are against gun violence,” Galvan said.
According to Galvan, for those choosing to participate, an Unexcused Absence will show on your record for any class time missed. Galvan, who has met with administration to make them aware of the plan, advises students to refrain from yelling, fowl language, or any other behavior that would get a student in trouble normally.
Northside ISD officials released the following statement this afternoon regarding the walkouts:
“As educators, we value our students’ opinions and acknowledge their concerns. However, to preserve time devoted to their studies and for safety reasons, we discourage any type of walkout or absence. Over the past few weeks, generally through Social Studies classes, students have had the opportunity to learn about and share their opinions on issues related to 2nd amendment rights and school safety. In these settings, respectful conversations have occurred about these important topics. While we understand people are passionate on all sides of this issue, we cannot allow students to disrupt the learning environment during school hours. If students wish to protest, they may do so in a peaceful manner before or after the regular school day. If a student chooses to walk out of class, the district will treat this as an unexcused absence.”
According to Galvan, the walkout will end at the end of 2nd period. Students are allowed to stay longer, but students who choose to stay risk the chance of greater response by administration.
Galvan and other students organizing the event are encouraging their peers who want to participate to compose a short speech or to create a poster. The poster may not have graphics of violence, fowl language or remarks towards the school or administration.
“To get our voices heard, something needs to be done politically, by the government and those being effected. In this case, it’s students,” Galvan said.
For more information on the walkout, Galvan has directed students to the official Twitter account, @HHSNatWalkOut.
(Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story indicated that administration had spoken about plans regarding punishment of students who were unruly. This is not the case. Any decisions will made according to normal district regulations and have not been discussed.)