THS students want to be heard

To the Editor:

I was displeased and quite angered, as a student in a community of dedicated, hardworking classmates, to find so many people misguided about the Torrington High School Walk-In held on March 14 inside our school gymnasium, just one month after the Florida shooting.

My classmates worked extremely hard to provide the proper assembly that would honor those who lost their lives on that terrifying day. The assembly involved a student-created poetry reading to mourn the students, as well as a few songs to send love to Parkland. There was not a single word spoken out of line with what we intended to accomplish. The Torrington High School students did not affiliate ourselves with the politically-driven protests found in other schools.

There was no mention of political sides, and an explicit note in an email by the principal, Andrew Skarzynski to “focus on honoring the lives of those who have been affected and embracing unity at school while seeking solutions to an issue which is of importance to everyone regardless of their political affiliation.” Simply put, there was never any hidden political agenda behind it in the slightest, and I can attest to that from speaking with the students who organized the assembly: they only brought memorial and remembrance to the lost lives because we can empathize with them. We had the option to participate, which was put in place to allow students who needed to keep up with schoolwork during their free period or if they simply did not want to go, but even if they made that choice to stay, we are a united community nonetheless because we respect that they did not participate and still feel the same that those students on February 14 did not deserve to die.

Our advisory period, where teachers and students are typically meant to speak about important issues, such as bullying or career planning etc., is a place to continue the conversation beyond the assembly and I believe it is important that what was started will not end here and that other action is taken on the issue of school safety. As others have suggested, it would be positive to bring up the ideas and facts behind why the socio-economic issues associated with the subject, but that simply was not the point of our walk-in, and there is no reason to assume otherwise, because it was clearly stated by numerous emails what the assembly would entail in detail.

This Walk-In was a start to the discussion, one which should not end today, but rather continue further throughout the school year and beyond because our education is being put at risk as we fear of losing our own lives, so why is this idea threatening? I want to feel safe in order to receive my education. In order to do that I cannot avoid the world around me, and it is my personal belief that teaching goes beyond algebra and history class when history is being made every day. Our learning needs to be holistic, and I fully support the learning that goes with being able to speak our voice in a school where that can so easily be outweighed by test scores and grades. Our beating hearts are of greater importance than losing one minute of “learning” for .02% of our academic year.

We all have differing opinions on the subject, but one thing is clear; our students are fed up with fearing being shot in school, and we want our voices to be heard regardless of how the issue is handled. Being a part of the THS Walk-In was a sole effort to share our condolences, and any take of the 17 minutes we spent in the assembly speaking honestly about our heavy hearts for those students outside of that fact is mere speculation. We stand with Parkland, not politics.

Tatum Marino, Torrington