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For 17 minutes Wednesday morning, thousands of students from public and private schools across the islands joined a nationwide student walkout to honor the 17 people shot to death at a Florida school last month and, perhaps, inspire Hawaii’s next generation of voters to do something about school safety and gun violence.
In a speech during Kaiser High School’s 10 a.m. walkout, senior Alex Teiti-Gierlach encouraged her classmates to register to vote: “Vote in every election. Vote for the people who will make the difference, for the people who actually care about us. … We may be young, we may still be in high school, but our voices can be heard. We have the power to change the world.”
At Kaiser High School, about 500 students filled the stadium’s bleachers, many of them wearing the color orange, which has come to symbolize support for the victims from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, located an ocean and a continent away in Parkland, Fla.
Kaiser’s walkout was organized by sophomore Teia O’Malley, who said she was inspired by a national movement led by teens.
In a speech, O’Malley said, “The response to the shooting has been dominated by teenage voices. They are tired of older generations dismissing them, and now they’re making change happen. What I want from each of you is to take a page out of their book and speak out on something you’re passionate about. Educate yourself about the issue, and learn how you can get involved. Take a stand and do something. Young people have a history of changing the world. Now it’s our turn.”
‘Their voice has power’
Administrators and teachers at many of the schools weren’t sure what to expect from the student-led event.
But student organizers at Punahou School were assured that no one would be disciplined for participating in a “peaceful protest,” said Principal Emily McCarren.
“Our job is helping them learn the power of their voice,” McCarren said moments before hundreds of Punahou middle and high school students met at the school’s Academy Quad.
She hoped Wednesday’s walkout sends the message to Punahou students “that their voice matters and that their voice has power.”
Punahou senior Claire Cutler, 18, of Kailua, used a bullhorn to amplify her voice, which she used to get students to chant “No more silence, end the violence.”
It was Cutler’s first attempt at activism and it only encouraged Cutler and her fellow organizers, including Hayden Brown, a 15-year-old sophomore from Kahala.
“We all need to make change,” Brown said.
Cutler, Brown and other Punahou students organized booths so students could register to vote. They hung posters with email addresses and phone numbers of Congressional leaders who receive the most donations from the powerful National Rifle Association and urged students to make their feelings known.
Going a step further
Freshman Hana Murphy, 14, of Manoa, immediately called the office of U.S. Sen. John McCain and urged him to stop accepting NRA donations.
After several attempts, Murphy finally got through and told the person who answered: “We have our futures in front of us and we don’t want one bullet to ruin it.”
Murphy then told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, “She said, ‘I’ll pass it (the message) along to him. Please have a nice day.’”
“We all know that’s not going to happen,” Murphy said. “I’m going to be annoying.”
It was the first time that Murphy has been inspired to call a lawmaker.
Brandon Pita, an 18-year-old senior from Chicago’s Latin School of Chicago, and 16 of his schoolmates are visiting Punahou this week and appreciated the show of support for victims of gun violence.
Pita said a shooting occurred outside his Chicago home just last week and some of his best friends have been shot.
“There’s a sadness that I’m desensitized to it,” Pita said.
But he called the nationwide walkout by students “a powerful movement.”
At other schools
Gov. David Ige returned to his alma mater, Pearl City High School, on Wednesday and watched students and teachers file into the school’s gym for their 17-minute walkout.
Students cut out paper flowers with messages for the victims from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
“I’m proud of our students who have raised their voices,” Ige, a 1975 Pearl City graduate, said in a statement. “They can and will make a difference in increasing school safety and preventing gun violence.”
At James Campbell High School in Ewa Beach, a couple of hundred students gathered in front of Saber Hall for rousing speeches by their classmates. They spoke out, among other things, against bullying, and demanded that politicians take action to keep students safe.
Seventeen desks were arranged in a half-circle, each with flowers and a name of one of the 17 Parkland victims.
Campbell science teacher Christine Russo said she was moved to tears by the students’ words.
“It was beautiful. The students did an amazing job,” said Russo, who counseled the event’s organizers. “The things they discussed were on point, and they did it on their own with minimal help from adults. It was the best day — and my best experience — as a teacher by far.”
At nearby Ewa Makai Middle School, students gathered at 10 a.m. for what they called “a peace gathering” rather than a walkout. The cafeteria assembly, planned by the student government class, was attended voluntarily by nearly all of the Ewa school’s 900 or so students.
There were student speeches on kindness, empathy and compassion and a memorial to the 17 victims of the Parkland shooting. Pictures of the victims were on display, surrounded by hearts and student-made ti leaf lei.
“We’re not promoting violence or riots or protest or anything like that,” said Reese Martin, 13, who helped organize the event. “The whole idea for this was to bring awareness to the situation and give ways for us to show respect to the 17 whose lives were lost.”
Student McKenzie Fagin added, “It was definitely a time of mourning, for sure.”
“We kind of realized if we don’t take into consideration others, and how others are, then something like that could happen here,” Fagin said. “We definitely don’t want that.”
The walls of the cafeteria were adorned with student posters about peace and remembrance. A giant “Pono Tree” was decorated with leaves containing student suggestions on how they can be more kind, positive, empathetic, caring and forgiving.
“It’s not just about the school shooting,” student Thor Gante said. “It’s about our ohana, our family. It’s not just individuals. It’s everyone.”
At Le Jardin Academy in Kailua, middle and high school students listened to speeches, then walked silently around a loop in reflection.
“We spend hours and hours at school,” said Arianna Lunow-Luke, a senior who helped organize the walkout. “This is our second home. It’s important for students to feel safe, and at the same time, offer a platform for student voices, so students feel empowered and speak out on any issue we’re facing in society.”
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