Students across the country participated in the first of several protests planned in response to recent gun violence.
This week's National School Walkout came exactly one month after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida that left 17 people dead. The protest has many districts grappling with how to encourage activism while still keeping kids safe.
North Vigo High School | Terre Haute
As an assembly took place inside North Vigo High School, a large group of students stood outside in silence.
"The assembly was more for a memorial, but this is more of a political issue," says Sloan Pollom, a student organizer for the walkout. "And, we know the school can't get involved in that, so we had to do that outside."
They held signs with the names of the victims of the Parkland shooting, and messages that the violence must stop.
"We need more gun regulations," Pollom says. "These people just can't keep, this just can't keep happening. And we just want more regulations and control over it."
The students stood in a designated area outside of the school after reaching a compromise with administrators. The superintendent says it was about keeping students safe.
They were allowed to walk out, but would face a two-hour detention.
The students say it was worth it – and theirs was one of more than 3,000 organized walkouts across the country this week.
Listen: how students at Herron High School in Indy and North Vigo High School in Terre Haute participated in the #nationalschoolwalkout, from @becca_costello, @ericweddle and @Joe_Hren pic.twitter.com/LZn7N6WlG0
- WFIU News (@WFIUNews) March 14, 2018
Indianapolis
Some students from Indianapolis Public Schools walked out of class and to the War Memorial downtown.
"We are trying to make sure that kids are able to go to school and feel safe instead of going to school and feeling like something is going to happen to them," says Ellie Latom, a student at Benjamin Harrison School Two.
A bit further north, about 800 North Central High School students signed a petition saying they would participate in the walkout.
They're demanding stricter gun laws, saying school should be a place where they feel safe.
Isaac Webber is one of the students who participated in the protest.
"You're walking into school from the parking lot and you're worried and you're looking around. We shouldn't have to do that," Webber says. "Like if school is something we need to go to it should be a low risk activity not something potentially deadly."
Some schools went a different route, and offered students other options.
Administrators met with kids from Beech Grove High School and agreed to let them plan a "walk in" instead of leaving the building.
"So by walking in we still made sure that everyone was safe," says student Jacob Stevenson. "It was more organized and we would be able to really spread our thoughts and our ideas."
While the gathering was short, students got the opportunity to ask city leaders and law enforcement questions about school safety.
Bloomfield Jr./Sr. High School
And, in the rural town of Bloomfield, students focused on walking up instead of walking out.
Maizy Gilliland is a student at Bloomfield High School, and spoke at the school's assembly.
"I challenge students to find 14 other students and three adults to walk up to on March 14 and say something nice in honor of those who died in Parkland, Florida," Gilliland says. "All of us need to make this concerted effort every day, starting today."
Student leaders here organized a school assembly. It honored the victims of the Parkland shooting, with empty chairs symbolizing the loss.
"In just a few moments of terror, 17 people lost their lives," Bloomfield student Kelsey Moody told her classmates. "This could happen here. All of these people could be gone in an instant."
Organizers at Bloomfield purposely tried to avoid politics by focusing the presentation on how they could have the most immediate impact. It's something educators are thinking about, too.
"The shooter most of the time feels isolated, left out, alone," says librarian Kristie Bladen. "So are we doing everything that we have control of? We may not have control of what the legislatures vote. But we can be kind. We can try to include people. And we can lookout for each other."
March For Our Lives
Many students across the country plan to take place in the March For Our Lives on March 24. In addition to a protest in Washington, D.C., several sister marches are planned throughout the country to demand an end to school shootings.
Here in Indiana, people plan to march at the Statehouse.
