In the wake of the tragedy that unfolded just a few weeks ago at Annunciation Catholic Church and school, hundreds of students across Minnesota have taken a stand on gun violence, with dozens of school-based protests occurring statewide. Here at Columbia Heights High School (CHHS), senior Ja’Sirah Barber organized a walkout to demand stricter gun control laws from the state and federal government.
On August 27, the Minnesota community was struck with the devastating news that Annunciation Catholic school and church in Minneapolis was the newest target in the already long list of school shootings in America. Just a few weeks after the shooting, another attack was carried out at Evergreen High School in Denver, injuring multiple students.
“It’s our elected officials’ job to keep us safe and prevent these tragedies from happening, and their failure to act is why students across the nation, like myself, felt the need to raise their voices,” Barber said.
In preparation for the walkout during the first week of school, Barber and her peers approached CHHS Principal Todd Wynne, proposing the plan for the walkout. In response, the building staff devised a plan to ensure student safety throughout the protest, which included plans to control traffic, ensure student safety, provide parents with transparency and contact local police in case extra support is needed.
The walkout took place between advisory and fourth block on September 5. It featured student-made signs handed out to other Hylanders as well as multiple student speakers (such as Hanan Mohamoud (11), Junia James (12), Aizzy Sabatke (11)) who had the chance to share their opinions and concerns about the current state laws. The crowd of passionate students filled up the sidewalk outside of the pool hallway door, the threshold of the door and even the pool hallway itself. Staff lined the road to ensure all students remained safe while still giving them the freedom to voice their opinions.
“Being a former high school social studies teacher, I love students exercising their rights [and] using [their] voice to express their opinions in a peaceful and orderly manner,” Wynne said. “It is not within my role to express or share my personal beliefs about anything political in nature; however, it is my role to make sure our students feel safe when expressing their opinions.”
Columbia Heights is not in this fight alone, with more than 30 different Minnesota schools having held walkouts already this academic year to demand gun reform. Students across Colorado have also been conducting walkouts in response to the shooting at Evergreen High School. Students all across the nation are making a clear point—enough is enough.
Their efforts aren’t going unnoticed, either. On Tuesday, Governor Tim Walz announced his plan to run for a third term. In his announcement video, stricter gun control took center stage as Walz claimed that he plans to “get serious about gun control.” Shortly following this announcement, Walz partook in an interview with MSNBC in which he said it definitively, “We do not need assault weapons.” If implemented, Minnesota would become the 12th state in the nation to enact such a ban.
Overall, students on both the state and national level are effecting real change. If you want to join your peers and help inspire this change, consider checking out resources like sandyhookpromise.org or protectmn.org to stay informed and learn actions you can take to ensure your voice is heard.
