“I don’t think there is one right answer, but I do think that school safety is an issue and school safety needs to be addressed,” said Mrs. Lauren Drazen, Chinese teacher at Hall High School. School safety has been a prominent issue throughout the U.S. for decades. However, people are finally beginning to see a change.

On Wednesday, March 14, 2018, at 9:45 AM, students peacefully left their fourth period class to participate in the school-wide walk out at Hall High School. After all the students, and the teachers allowed to leave, were on the turf, they remained there from 10:00 AM to 10:17 AM in support of the 17 victims killed in the Parkland, Florida shooting a month prior. At Hall, seniors Alaysia Hamilton, Dylan Landau, Addie Bassock, and Ellen Fuller told stories, read essays, and shared the names of the victims as the rest of the student body stood in silence. Collectively, the student body marched to “protest Congress’ inaction to do more than tweet thoughts and prayers in response to the gun violence plaguing our schools and neighborhoods,” said the organizers of Women’s March Youth EMPOWER on Fox News.

While protesting, many students were dressed in orange, the color associated with national gun violence awareness. Senior Josh Onyirimba, “decided to walk out because gun control is a real serious thing right now and it’s important for students to feel safe at school.”

On the other hand, a junior, Tommy Sullivan, chose not to walk out. He felt it “wasn’t a full tribute to the victims.” Instead, he continued, “It was a stance on gun control.” Although he does support gun reform, he does not believe this matter should have been handled in school.

Administration wanted to help frame the walk-out, so it “did not interfere in any way with what the message was that went out,” said Mrs. Shelly Solomon, assistant principal at Hall High School.

All teachers were instructed not to walk out, unless their entire class was taking part in the event. When asked, Drazen agreed with administration’s decision. She believes that everyone should feel safe in school and “supports all students, regardless of what they think.”

Because of the regulations for teachers on the student led walk out, faculty from around the West Hartford school district had a walk-in before the first bell rang to start the high school day. Led by Mr. David Simon and the teacher’s union, about 60 teachers from nearby elementary, middle, and high schools came together and walked into school to show their support.

Nationally, CNN discussed how students are now taking this situation into their own hands and furthering this movement. The news outlet described that, “After the walk out, student activists and their supporters will turn their attention to the ‘March for Our Lives’ protest planned for Saturday, March 24.” Protesters will get together and march to bring attention to the fight. This will take place in Washington DC and many other surrogate cities around the US.

Many students drive for change is sparked by the concern for future safety in school. Onyirimba stated, “Hopefully students can live in a time where they don’t have to worry about being shot up.” Since the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, there have been 290 injuries or deaths due to gun violence, 17 of those occurring just in 2018.

Looking towards the future, senior and student leader of the walk out at Hall High School, Addison Bassock, said,“I hope students took away from the walk out the importance of voting, their voices, and legislation. And by leaving them with these valuable suggestions, I think they can begin making actual change, beyond just walking-out.”