Walk it Out or Get Kicked Out?

“As long as you follow the guidelines and do not cause a disruption, you will NOT be punished.” These were the words written on a flyer in the halls of Grayson High School, Loganville, GA.

Grayson High School has since changed their stance on this. Recently, a memo was sent out to all students. It read, “Due to a change given out by the leaders of our county, GHS will no longer have an organized walkout. Students who choose to walkout will receive the consequences for leaving class/school.”

In the wake of the new prevalent dialogue regarding the issue of gun violence, students across the nation have all united in a collective assembly of peaceful protest by staging school walkouts. Grayson is just one of many schools who had agreed to participate in the national Walk Out on March 14^th. This is exactly one month after the Parkland Shooting, and many high schools alongside have declared that they will not grant any sort of punishment to those who participate in the Walk Out, even though it is in the middle of the day. The Parkland shooting, which happened less than a month ago, has really struck empathy from many and sparked conversation nationally. The issue of guns, which makes for a controversial debate, has been brought up over and over for the last couple of weeks. Sadly, the shooting seemed to be the wake-up call we needed. Among those was Grayson High School in Loganville, GA, until recently when it wasn’t.

Interestingly enough, the Grayson’s change of heart, though it angered students, did not discourage them.

“I believe that Gwinnett County’s change in the decision for the Walkout could have greatly diminished the amount of potential awareness,” said senior Melina Maleknia, who was a part of the leaders who orchestrated the walkout at this particular school. “The purpose of the Walkout was to create awareness. The purpose of the Walkout was to create awareness for persistent gun violence, and many of those alternative ideas, like voting and writing to the state senators, won’t get enough support unless enough people are aware first. Wearing a certain color shirt, for instance, promotes a limited amount of awareness; however, walking out of the school, which is noticeable to everyone in the school, makes a big statement. And a big statement is what we need for the cause.”

Even colleges have joined in the effort, by issuing statements of solidarity to their applicants, assuring students who apply to their institution that any discipline received as a result of these walkouts will not affect their admission. Among these colleges include Lehigh University, Macalester College, Carnegie Mellon University, Pomona College, and other highly acclaimed and accredited universities. Surprisingly enough, my college, Claremont McKenna College, is not among these schools. The associate vice president of public affairs and communications, Peter Hong, was questioned regarding this. He answered by quoting one of CMC’s core policies. “In cases of a student self-reporting (as required on our application) prior conduct sanctions of any nature, we follow our normal protocol to review the matter and consider the student’s overall character, the reason for the conduct sanction, and the student’s explanation of their behavior. In this specific, hypothetical context, the College would be further guided by our core commitment to the freedom of expression.”

Though this is not directly inferring that anyone who participates will not be considered, it proves that the school is not encouraging any behavior that will result in the school having to investigate the source of the behavior. However, they do still understand the student’s 1^st amendment rights, and will most likely consider the applicant, but does not want to publically condone the act of the Walk Out.

CMC and GHS are not alone with their view of not having submitted a statement or allowing students to participate in the event. Thousands of colleges refuse to sign a statement, some align with CMC’s ideology, others just ignorantly declare a no-tolerance rule on disciplinary action. In either case, I think it isn’t necessarily fair to those students, who are choosing to stand up and commemorate those who have lost their lives, and further the fight against gun violence. Of course, this could never be fixed overnight. It wouldn’t even be able to be fixed within the next couple of years in this society.

But it starts here.

It starts with the cooperation of the government and gun laws. It starts with punishing all criminals the same, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, homosexuality, social class, wealth, etc. It starts with understanding that this is something that we have to stand up for, not just in this critical time when the wounds are still fresh. It is a common habit within the political climate of our current society to hear of an injustice, tragedy, etc, and only fight it for a couple of weeks before moving on to the next ‘atrocity.’ Like Maleknia stated, bringing awareness is key, and we can’t do this without making a scene and making a statement. We have to stay consistent and follow through with our fights, protests, and campaigns. Maybe then, this Walk Out will be taken more seriously and, there would be no question or concern of punishment.