On Wednesday the 14th, nearly 3000 schools participated in a nationwide walkout.  There were some schools who were not allowed to participate, so students protested for their cause.  Chapin High has the option to walk outside or write to legislators for 17 minutes or sit silently in their classroom for 17 minutes. Some of the students that chose to walkout ranged from all grade levels. When Emma Gronda, a sophomore, was asked what the walkout meant to her she said “This walk out didn’t mean anything to me, now that it’s happened. I felt there were more people who just wanted to leave class than people who actually cared about the shooting in Florida”

There was a common complaint that most of the people outside were talking during the 17 minutes of silence that were for the victims of the Stoneman-Douglas shootings. Emma also said “I’m neutral about the people who didn’t walk out but a lot of the people who walked out just wouldn’t stop talking, which I thought was disrespectful to the victims of the Florida shooting. I saw that the walkouts in Florida schools were way quieter compared to ours” in regards to how she felt about those that walked out and those that didn’t.

 Junior Alex Rushe said “I participated in the walkout and the 17 minutes of silence to honor those who lost their lives in Parkland.” Rushe added, “(THey were) fellow students who were living very similar lives to those that we live, and the families and friend that are mourning deaths that should have never happened. Walking out showed anyone who was watching state, federal legislation, that we are not afraid to take action to enact laws that will restrict the presence of certain classes of firearms and make sure that people who do possess firearms are qualified.” 

Alex also said he felt that for those that opposed the walk out,“That it’s a simple misunderstanding of the cause. No matter what your view on gun control, you cannot deny that we need change. The 18 mass shooting this year alone are proof that the way we are doing things simply isn’t working.” Rushe added, “People are dying. Families losing loved ones. Friends losing friends. Saying that this is okay is inhumane.”

One teacher was asked how she felt about the walkout and the students exercising their first amendment right, she said “It’s important for children to know how to do it appropriately.”

If anyone would like contact their representatives to voice their concerns they cant send a message through easily to Congress, South Carolina’s House Representatives, Senators, or the Governor by texting RESIST to 504-09.