Photo Credit: Joe Brusky (Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association Flickr CC)
“It just kept happening,” said Homestead High School junior Sophia Zhang. “All these different shootings have happened. They have been building up and it felt to me like not a lot of people were trying to take big steps to make a change.”
But in the wake of the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. that left 17 people dead, students around the country are taking those big steps by standing up, walking out and marching. Tired of feeling fearful and helpless as their peers lose their lives to gun violence, local students and allies will take to the streets of downtown Milwaukee Saturday, March 24 to participate in the March for Our Lives demonstration.
The march was started by the survivors of the Parkland incident and will take place nationally as students call for a comprehensive and effective bill to be immediately brought before Congress to address gun issues. With clear demands, including banning assault rifles and strengthening background checks, the student-led movement is giving the power of voice to those who will soon have the power to vote.
“I think it’s important to have student involvement because we’re the younger generation and very soon many of us are going to be taking a bigger role in policy, a lot of us are going to be 18 and able to vote,” said Zhang, who is one of the students leading the initiative in Milwaukee. “I think a lot of times people ignore the kids. We just want to prove we’re coming from a reasonable place and we just want people to listen to our voices and give us a chance.”
“I’ve seen so many school shootings and shootings around our community. There aren’t a lot of things being done as far as gun violence,” said Marvell Reed, who is also helping to organize the Milwaukee event. Reed, a 10th-grader at Barack Obama School of Career and Technical Education, said he feels relatively safe at his school, but wanted to help make changes locally as well as nationally. “It’s a weird situation because you’ve never been through it, but one day you could wake up and it could happen to you.”
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Students have relied heavily on social media to gain support for the marches, as well as the 17-minute National School Walkouts that took place March 14 to remember the 17 lives lost in Parkland. The same day, the U.S. House of Representatives passed by a 407-10 vote the STOP School Violence Act, which authorizes $50 million a year to improve training, reporting systems and school security to prevent threats and violence in schools. It was introduced into the Senate, where it is expected to have bipartisan support, according to recent reports. In addition, Gov. Scott Walker announced a $100 million School Safety Plan that includes strengthening school safety and violence reporting requirements, teacher training and cooperation with local law enforcement.
“Clearly these students are bringing a different level of energy to the movement,” said Jeri Bonavia. “They are clear in their demands, which are all incredibly reasonable and badly needed.”
Bonavia is the executive director of Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort, an organization that has been working to reform gun laws for more than two decades and is providing support to the local March for Our Lives organizers.
There has been a range of responses to the movement from school district leaders in the area. While some district administrators initially said students participating in walkouts would be considered absent or tardy, others, like Milwaukee Public Schools and Elmbrook School District, have encouraged students to speak out and are even providing opportunities to continue the conversation in the community.
“Life is not a partisan issue and our students have the right to be educated in a safe environment,” said MPS Superintendent Dr. Darienne Driver. Driver also chairs the Council of Great City Schools, and on March 12, the 70-member coalition of large urban public school systems called for federal legislation that would ban assault weapons, require universal background checks for all other firearms purchases, provide funding for school safety measures, support more mental health and counseling services in schools and reform the collection of data on gun use.
“Our nation’s urban schools have heard the cries of our students for tougher gun legislation and their pleas for stronger mental health support,” Driver said in a press release from the Council. “Today we honor those voices and respond to their call for action.”
The march will begin at the Milwaukee County Courthouse (901 N. Ninth St.) at 10 a.m. on March 24 and will continue to City Hall. Zhang said the event will include speakers, an a capella group performing a piece in memory of the Parkland victims, letter-writing stations and voter registration.
“More than 38,000 people are killed with guns in a single year in our country. No other developed country has or tolerates that level of violence, not even close,” Bonavia said. “We know that gun violence is preventable. It’s not a lack of knowledge, it’s a lack of willpower. We need our politicians to stand up ... instead of asking our children to stand up to gunmen.”
March for Our Lives events will also be taking place in La Crosse, Green Bay and Madison. For more information, visit www.marchforourlives.com.
