The Oliver Ames High School walkout which occurred on March 15th was a student demonstration in order to call attention to gun violence in the schools of America and also honor those lost during the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida over a month ago.
Over 650 students participated in the event Thursday, which showed both Easton and neighboring communities the amount of political activism present at OA. Some students carried signs which stated their personal beliefs on gun control, while others simply chose to remain silent as they reflected on the lives lost due to the Parkland shooting.
“We were really happy with the turnout,” said senior Hanna To, one of the organizers of the walkout. “Obviously we are not expecting to cause change overnight, and it’s not like we are going to get a lot of gun laws passed tomorrow, but I think the walkout was important because it kept the conversation (about shootings) going.”
As school faculty watched the students walk around the grounds for seventeen minutes, one minute for every student killed in Parkland, the students demonstrated their ability to protest and use their constitutional rights.
Victoria Thomas, another student leader of the walkout, was very proud with the way it was executed. “For so long our age group historically has been marginalized politically… what’s unique about our generation is that we’re taking that back.”
Regardless of how many people participated in the walkout, the fact that people demonstrated for those who lost their lives in Parkland and care about enacting change to the legislation involving firearms shows how much this generation is involved in the political scene. In the coming years, no matter if our elected officials like it or not, these future voters will be able to express what they stand for in the ballot box, which could dramatically change the political climate of America.