Cars honk in agreement.
We can stand up for what we think.
We have a voice.
We can affect people.
We can make a difference.
#ChangeStartsHere
From Sarah, a poem:
The Walkout
With silence
Strong silence
Using our silence
As our weapon
Peaceful weapon
Unlike the weapons we protest against
Guns
All guns
Used to kill
Out here on a cold March day
Think about ones lost
Selfless in the cold
Huddle together for warmth like lost penguins
With signs hanging limply from our frozen fingers
Connect
Cold on the outside
On the inside warmth spreads
Pride
We are together
One community
17 dead
17
Countless injuries
Many witnesses
Signs hoist slogans like
“The world is made of life, not guns. #LREI”
“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – Christopher Robin
“We can get gun control!”
“Make art, not guns. Make poems, not guns. Make music, not guns. You get the idea.”
“Love = love. Guns = hate. *Why add more hate to this world?!?”
“We certainly don’t understand why it is harder to make plans with friends on weekends than it is to buy a semi – automatic weapon” – Emma Gonzalez
“We’re children. You guys are the adults. Get something done.” – Parkland Shooting Survivor
Cars honk in agreement
We can stand up for what we think
We have a voice
We can affect people
We can make a difference
“#ChangeStartsHere”
From Harley, a report:
Almost all of the Fourth Grade and Middle schoolers at LREI were at the walk-out, exactly a month after the Stoneman Douglas School shooting. They were holding up signs that said things like “Make art, not guns, make poems, not guns, make music, not guns, you get the idea.”, “Love=Love Guns=Hate. *Why add more hate to the world?” and, “The world is made of life, not guns. #Lrei”. We stood at Little Red Square in silence. But, other people participating chanted things like “Hey, hey, NRA, how many kids have you killed today?” We went outside at 10:00 AM and went back inside at 10:17 AM (some students stayed out for an extra minute to show support for the people that witnessed it and for the people who were injured).
The reason we went out was to show that children can make a difference, and to show support for anyone who has been through a shooting. Some people driving past Sixth Avenue honked the horns of their cars and trucks to show support. It felt really good to know that other people agreed with us and that people cared about what we had to say.
I really like that the teachers gave us the opportunity to participate. In some schools, children would be suspended if they chose to walk out. But some of those students walked out any way. I hope that the government will change gun laws so that a school shooting like this never happens again.
From fourth graders during a discussion after the walkout:
“Every time I felt cold I thought to myself I am freezing then I remembered the families who lost someone in the shooting.”
“I was happy that we actually got a chance to protest.”
“We were showing the world that even kids in the fourth grade can say what they think.”
“I felt happy it affected people walking by.”
From Sebastian, a news report:
On Wednesday, March 14, fourth graders walked out of their classrooms and onto the the sidewalk of Sixth Avenue. They were the youngest kids protesting too. Fourth graders fought for safer gun laws. They were representing the younger kids at LREI. A fourth grade student named Sebastian declared, “We shouldn’t have to go out of the school day to protest for safer gun laws.” That was very powerful and meaningful and most 4th graders agree.
Students saw random strangers taking photos of the peaceful protest. “It was amazing!” said Theo, another fourth grader. The signs were well-made and made sense. There were a lot of cars and trucks honking as they drove past the young protesters.
The walk-out was very emotional. Some grown-ups, like Sebastian’s mom and Deborah, the head teacher of DS4, were crying at the sight of all of the students protesting.
One fourth grader, Bo, came up with the idea to stay out for two more minutes to honor the people who were injured in the Florida shooting. His classmates agreed, so they stayed outside for two extra minutes.
Not only the fourth graders protested, LREI middle school and high school students participated too. Also, students all over the United States of America protested for better gun laws.
The next day, fourth grade teacher, Deborah read a news article about a girl in Wisconsin who was the only student in her school to walk out. She sat outside under a flagpole for 17 minutes by herself. Deborah said, “It reminded me how fortunate we are to be in a community that is actively engaged in social justice issues.”
I think this was a very powerful movement.
It was very meaningful to me.
I think that it felt amazing to be part of something that thousands of kids are participating in. It made me feel good to protest for what I thought was right. I thought that everybody’s signs were convincing and showed that there needed change. We all did a really good job and helped make change.
I felt a lot of power to be able to protest for what is right and to express my feelings in front of the world
I think it was amazing to be a part of this. It really had an impact because so many people participated and they all wanted change to happen.
It think it was amazing that we had the opportunity to participate in this protest. I thought it Impacted many people. One of my favorite parts were when trucks and cars would honk back at us because it made me feel like people were getting the massage.