On March 14, 2018, many students from hundreds of different schools around the nation walked out of class to support the movement against gun violence as well as to remember the 17 students killed in the Parkland shooting in Florida. 10 days after the walk-out, The March for Our Lives was held in Washington D.C., as well as 800 sibling events held in other places, to support that cause as well

Since the start of the year, as of March 20, 17 school shootings have been reported. That averages 1.4 shootings per week, and students are becoming more anxious for change. Senior, India Kittrell is one of many students who participated in the Walk-Out to start conversation about an intense topic.

“I participated in the Walk Out because I believe in making schools safer, and starting conversations that will
help work towards that goal,” said Kittrell.

The March For Our Lives in Washington D.C. had an anticipated attendance of 500,000 people, but ended up with a estimated total of 800,000 people in attendance. But as much support as this topic has gotten, it also has had a large amount of losses to gain this amount of attention and this loud of a voice. Sophomore Te’a White agrees that though there is a lot of support for the topic, it has taken a lot of loss to get here.

“The march had a common goal which was to restrict gun access. It needs to be more controlled because the amount of shootings has increased dramatically over the past year. It takes a lot of loss to have people pay attention to what is going on in our schools with violence,” said White.

Multiple celebrities and other public figures performed and spoke out at the march on March 24th such as, Demi Lovato and Ariana Grande, and other Parkland survivors and teens exposed to gun violence in school. Not only does having celebrities promote the cause help for publicity, but also raises awareness in young people, and those who look up to them. English teacher, Whitney Mikkelsen believes that having celebrities promote the topic can be good and bad.

“I think that celebrities speaking out can go both ways, it depends on who the celebrity is. They need to understand that they do have an influence in young people’s lives and their opinions matter and what they say and do matter,” said Mikkelsen.

Celebrities and people in government aren’t the only ones bringing attention to the topic of gun violence. Survivors of the Parkland shooting are also speaking out about this, like Emma González and Maddy Wilford, but also Martin Luther King Jr.’s 9-year-old granddaughter, Yolanda Renee King. Mikkelsen feels that because the awareness and attention is coming from older people, as well as teenagers and those affected, the topic has a greater impact.

“I think it called more awareness to the topic, and more attention to it because it’s not just lawmakers or people running for office who are talking about this, but it’s people who are actually being affected. I think that puts more behind it because it’s teenagers who are saying it and who are being affected by it,” said Mikkelsen.

The March for Our Lives raised awareness of the gun violence situation amongst adults and students alike, with the support of public figures, gun violence survivors, and a nation as one.