Thousands of students across the United States walked out of class Wednesday, March 14th to demand stricter gun laws in a historic show of political solidarity. The walkout was part tribute and part protest. Taft High principal Mary Alice Finn was asked how she felt about the school walkout, with her stating, “They have the opportunity to exercise their first amendment and we want to make sure they’re safe while doing so.”  The students who participated in the walkout gathered outside in front of the school to display their concern and sadness for the victims of the February 14th mass shooting that occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Seventeen people were killed and seventeen more were wounded, making it one of the worst and deadliest school massacres.

Approximately 80 students at Taft High participated in the nationwide school walkout. With opinions varying from those who chose to participate in the school walkout and students who disagreed and remained in class. Ayrieann Buchanan, a student at TUHS, participated in this peaceful protest because she is tired of it being so easy for people to get a guns, and she believes those who might resort to violence should not be able to bear a weapon. Of those who disagreed, such as Taft High student Hunter Thomas, who chose not to participate because if others have the right to have their first amendment then he has a right to his second, as Hunter stated, “The second amendment’s main purpose is that we have the right to bear arms to create a well-regulated militia….In order to accomplish this, how will we be able to access the very device we use to defend ourselves with these stricter gun laws?”

The majority who remained in class also viewed the walkout as a way for other students to leave class or avoid work. With some students also seeing it as a waste of time, a student who wishes to remain anonymous had this to say about the walkout, “There’s no point, it’s just seventeen minutes.” Though the walkout wasn’t well planned, and the group was unable to acquire as many students to participate in the protest, it still seemed to send message to the school district and the community. At the end of the peaceful protest, TUHS sophomore Moises Figueroa asked for a moment of prayer for those who lost their lives due to the actions of but one man. In an excerpt from Figueroa prayer, he said, “Thank you Lord for this time you have given us…for the courage to come out here for the lives lost…Lord I know you’re here today, I know you’re in pain too for what is happening in our world, but I ask you Lord to put forgiveness in everybody’s hearts, I ask you to put peace in our world.” The students of TUHS have drawn a fine line of where they stand with it seeming to show where the majority sit.