STEPS FOR CHANGE
Local students take part in nationwide walkout to protest gun violence
COHOES, N.Y. » Hundreds of students from Cohoes High School walked around the school for 17 minutes Wednesday morning to remember the 17 victims who were killed last month at a Florida high school.
Students from the high school took part in the nationwide school walkout Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. to call for gun law changes and to remember the recent school shooting victims.
Onemonth ago, on Valentine’s Day, the shooting suspect, identified as 19-yearold Nikolas Cruz, allegedly entered his former school at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, with a semi-automatic rifle and killed 14 students and three adults.
On the month anniver- sary of the tragedy, students from across the nation planned walkouts as a way to call for changes in gun violence and school safety and to remember those who lost their lives during these incidents in schools.
“I want to be a leader and stuff like this happens too often and too much and it’s upsetting and sickening that [something like the school shootings] is just thrown to the side after a few weeks of us honoring [the victims],” explained Cohoes High School senior Jalen Torres, who organized the walkout and also a special ceremony before 10 a.m. that honored the shooting victims in Florida.” We need to remember them and we need to do something so that this stops happening.”
School and city officials said that they were supportive of the students wanting
to demonstrate in this kind of way and they are hopeful that something like this will spark changes as well.
“The students really organized this and we just supported them,” said high school Principal Bryan Wood, who was walking with district Superintendent Jennifer Spring, who also said she was proud of the students on Wednesday. “We want to support them and we think it’s important that their voices be heard and we feel this is really a teachable moment. I think students across the country are uniting for this cause and I think it will have an impact and hopefully have our politicians create laws that minimize school violence.”
“I think it’s a good cause and good learning experience for the kids to protest peacefully, quietly and take charge of their future,” added Cohoes Common Council Vice President Bill Smith, who was walking with the students along with Council President Chris Briggs.
Students said that they thought it was a good idea to take part in this type of event because they know that changes need to hap- pen to make schools safer.
“I feel that with everything going on and the rapid occurrence of these [shootings] that something has to change and nobody else is going to do anything so maybe we should start, “said 10th grader Brianna Ferrand.
“This turnout that we had and just walking around [the school] shows that kids care and that’s what we need,” added Torres.
School officials and students said that when they saw the news of the latest school shooting in Florida last month that it did affect them as students too.
“I honestly just felt distraught, it’s never something you want to hear about,” said Ferrand.
“It hurt actually and it terrified me because I don’t want to come in here [to school] and have that fear, I want to be safe in my school and that’s where I should feel safe,” added Torres, who did note that he does feel safe in his high school.
“I was devastated, every day we come into a high school and work with students and to hear that happen was just absolutely devastating,” said Wood.
Other students in the Capital Region, including Saratoga Springs, also took part in the walkout.