Arcadia High School’s Walkout

On March 14, students at Arcadia High School took to the quad after their second period ended. For 17 minutes, they took time to commemorate the lives lost, in Parkland, along with reflecting on the cause: gun violence.

The weeks leading before the walkout were uncertain. An immense amount of students were advocating for others not to attend. They explained it would lead to no change in firmer gun laws; it is wasting time which can be spent in class. My peers decided that exercising the first amendment was a fruitless objective in the pursuit of safer school environments. With the administrator providing no support, in comparison to other schools who organized all students to walk out, it was not a surprise when only a handful of the 3,700 students appeared in the quad.

During the walkout, security cars roamed around the quad to keep order and prevent mutiny.

For 17 minutes, speeches were given, names of the victims were read, and then a moment of silence for victims of the shooting. A large poster allowed students to write messages for Parkland.

Orange ribbons were made and distributed to anyone who wanted to show support.

As students walked back to class, they found that the majority of their peers never left their seat.