Flowers or guns: Views differ on walkout
Many students plan on protesting gun violence
At Greenfield High School, orange carnations will be sold as a symbol of nonviolence. In Waukesha, parents plan to march for school safety and gun control. At Whitefish Bay High School, students plan to gather on the football field and read the names of students who have been killed.
Across the Milwaukee area — and, indeed, the country — schools are preparing for the National School Walkout on Wednesday. The idea is to remember the 17 lives lost in the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
Many school administrators are allowing supervised classroom walkouts
of 17 minutes beginning at 10 a.m. Others insist that students have permission slips from their parents to participate in events that occur outside of classrooms. Much of the focus is expected to be on the nation’s gun laws.
Sophie Lipovsek, a 16-year-old junior at Greenfield High School, said she and her friends wanted to honor the day while also raising money for Stoneman Douglas students. They believe the sale of orange carnations will serve those interests.
“Our principal, Paul Thusius, showed the school his video that challenged us to come up with a way to help (Stoneman Douglas) high school without missing a class period,” Lipovsek said. “I talked to my friends at lunch about how awesome it would be to raise awareness of gun violence and come up with a way to raise money for students at the high school.”
Other classmates and teachers expressed support for the idea of selling orange carnations, she said. The conversation continued at a nearby Starbucks, and Sam’s Club and Pick ‘n Save donated carnations. Lipovsek predicted as many as 800 flowers will be distributed. Whitefish Bay High School activities are more in line with the plans of many other districts.
“On March 14 at 10 a.m., we will walk out of class in solidarity with the victims and survivors of Parkland,” organizer Samantha Hentzen, a senior, said in a note distributed to students. “All Whitefish Bay students are welcome to walk out in efforts to honor the lives lost, declare our right to attend school safely and start a dialogue about gun reform.
“(We will) walk quickly to the football field. Several students will speak, and we will remember the victims of Parkland. After the 17-minute walkout, we will walk back to class silently, and as long as you are back in class by the start of fourth hour, there will be no disciplinary action taken.”
Other schools have similar plans. In Shorewood, high school and middle school students are planning to walk out and present speeches and readings in front of high school. At Sussex Hamilton, students will be dismissed 10 minutes early for a voluntary walk-in event
“I talked to my friends at lunch about how awesome it would be to raise awareness of gun violence...” Sophie Lipovsek, 16-year-old junior at Greenfield High School
in the Hamilton Athletic Center, featuring a choir concert and vigil. At Arrowhead High School, students from North and South campuses will meet at the football field for speeches and a group picture. And in Cutler Park in Waukesha, people will assemble at the park with signs, and march to the school district’s Lindholm Building.
The question is whether the walkout is a real game-changer, or just a gimmick.
A gun advocate, a small-business owner and a military veteran said they believe students can really make a difference through academic discussions about increasing safety by arming teachers and decreasing campus stress by reaching out to isolated and socially outcast classmates.
Nik Clark, president/CEO of Wisconsin Carries, said students’ energies should be directed toward discussions on arming teachers instead of staging walkouts. Clark heads a group that promotes open carry and concealed carry of weapons.
“A teacher under fire has a choice of fight or die,” Clark said. “Faced with that choice, who would not want a gun?”
By posting signs that teachers are armed, and allowing an undisclosed number of school officials to be armed, would strongly deter gunmen, Clark suggests.
“Students who walk out of class don’t solve anything,” said Joetta Barta, owner of the Nice Ash Cigar Bar in downtown Waukesha. “They should do 17 nice things, make 17 new friends, have lunch with someone who is sitting alone.
“Walking out of class? What’s that doing? To me, how is that not skipping class?”
Barta said she is not a social activist, but questions whether the walkout could backfire by opening doors to a bevy of walkouts linked to other issues, such as abortion. Barta and her late husband, Jeff, put three children through Waukesha schools.
Kim Michalowski, U.S. Army-retired, agreed with Barta that leaving class is not a good idea. Michalowski volunteers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Veteran Resource Center. “Too many will do it just to get out of class,” he said. “Instead, make a friend and don’t make people feel they’re outcasts.”