Midtown’s March for Our Lives club organized a school-wide walkout against gun violence on Sept. 20, as a part of a state-wide walkout after the Apalachee High School shooting.
“[The walkouts] are happening state-wide right now,” junior and Midtown’s March for Our Lives club member Kate Krugman said. “If you look at the Georgia Youth Coalition on Instagram, you will see they are reporting a lot of walkouts, like at Gwinnett and Lassiter. We are not the only school that’s walking out, and we wanted to make sure that Midtown was known on the list of schools as the ones who are making a difference for the cause.”
The walkout was school-sanctioned and Friday’s schedule was adjusted to accommodate students who wanted to attend. MFOL member junior Avery Frank was one of the six speakers at the walkout.
“I think it went really well,” Frank said. “I noticed that there were a lot of people. I did not expect that many people [would] come. It’s a little scary, but everybody was really respectful when we had some of our longer speeches. I know it can get antsy. I am not the best public speaker, but I honored one of the victims and did a lot of research on him.”
MFOL club sponsor Susan Salvesen praised the students’ leadership to revive the MFOL club this year and plan the walkout.
“[The walkout] was student-driven,” Salvesen said. “Students who wanted to bring the club back saw people who were calling for a statewide walkout and contacted administration.”
Organizers of the walkout informed Midtown principal Dr. Betsy Bockman and Assistant Principal Jennifer Cappelli of the plans a week prior to the walkout and coordinated with them throughout the process.
“I was really impressed by how prepared [the student organizers] were and how passionate they were about this issue,” Cappelli said. “We were sure to do it in a very respectful way for the shooting victims and to inspire real change in our country.”
Senior Emmie Snead attended the walkout, because, she said, she believes access to guns is dangerous.
“I believe that if we didn’t have access to guns, people’s lives would be in less danger,” Snead said. “People say they want to have guns to protect themselves, but I think if we get rid of them there would be less things to protect yourself from to begin with.”
Frank said she hopes the information shared was informative, and some people seemed surprised by the facts spoken during the walkout.
“I think a lot of people were surprised, we got reactions from the crowd when we shared statistics about gun violence in America, so I think some people have a greater understanding of the detrimental effects of gun violence,” Frank said.
Salvesen said one of the goals was to bring awareness to the issue of gun control.
“I do think [the walkout] was effective,” Salvesen said. “I was really impressed with the students who showed they were respectful. They listened. I think whenever you do something like this, you are bringing about awareness to an issue that can help spark some media attention, which is one of the things the club wanted. They wanted people in our school to respond and email their representatives to bring about change.”
Cappelli believes the walkout can inspire important change.
“I think [the walkout] went very well, they did a lot to prepare, they were nervous but they really pulled it together and did a lot of work to make sure it was organized, it was thoughtful, and it was respectful,” Cappelli said. “What happens after this is what’s most important to get the staff and students rallying to make more change.”
Krugman said March for Our Lives will continue to fight for solutions.
“I think [March for Our Lives] is such an important thing to have at any school,” Krugman said. “It advocates for gun control. Right now death by firearm is the leading cause of death in children and teens and that’s just a crazy thought and that’s not normal. March for Our Lives is dedicated to figuring out a solution to guns and banning assault rifles.”