P’ville Students Join National Walkout for Gun Control Legislation
Hundreds of students poured out of Pleasantville High School Wednesday morning as part of the nationwide school walkout demanding stronger gun legislation while memorializing the victims in last month’s high school massacre in Parkland, Fla.
At the stroke of 10 a.m. exactly one month after 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Pleasantville students and faculty members joined hundreds of thousands of students across the country in a 17-minute protest to highlight the political inaction against gun violence.
Junior Mickey Kennedy, whose grandfather Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968 with a .22-caliber revolver, believed the cause of the gun violence is easy accessibility to firearms. She said students have watched people their age continually die through gun violence and many elected officials have been unwilling to address the problem.
“My grandfather was killed by a man with a gun who never should have had a gun. His brother (President John F. Kennedy) was also killed by a man with a gun who never should have had a gun,” Kennedy said. “These students in Parkland were killed by a boy with a gun who never should have had a gun. These deaths could have been prevented and my family and families everywhere who have been affected by tragedies like these should never have to feel the pain of someone being ripped away from them with the pull of a trigger.”
During the protest, middle school students read aloud the names of the 17 victims, ringing a bell after each name. Those gathered then stood for a moment of silence sporting shirts reading #Enough.
Students spent the week leading up to the walkout selling the #Enough shirts for the community to wear. They said the money they raise will be donated to the Parkland shooting victims.
Members of the Pleasantville student body said they were motivated after having witnessed students their age suffer. They’ve grown accustomed to hearing about mass shootings on the news and strenuously agreed that action must be taken.
“These were students just like us,” senior Teresa Hoffmeister said. “This could have been us.”
Senior Kamelle Ruano said the walkout was a momentous occasion to get involved and bring attention to an issue that will have a long-lasting effect on her generation. Ruano said she hopes government officials will strengthen background checks and focus on mental health issues, criminal records and making it more difficult to purchase a firearm.
“Now our generation has realized we have the power as the people of the United States to raise our voices and have our rights and show our representatives that we are willing to make the change we want to see,” Ruano said.
Senior Sophie Rapley advised students to never be complacent with silence and to confront their local representatives about why change is essential.
“We will not silently watch children be killed in their classrooms. We will not watch as teachers die protecting their students,” Rapley said. “We will not rest until schools are safe from violence.”
School walkouts occurred throughout Westchester although officials in many districts did not permit the public or parents onto campuses to join in the protest.
In Chappaqua, about 30 parents gathered at the gazebo on South Greeley Avenue for 17 minutes to remember the victims of the Parkland shooting, reading their names and to pledge that they would press for tighter gun laws.
Many were optimistic that the Stoneman Douglas shooting would finally yield legislative changes that would better protect the students and the public.
“The trick is not to let it fade away,” said Chappaqua resident Dawn Greenberg, who organized Wednesday morning’s parents’ gathering across the street from Robert E. Bell Middle School where students also took part in the walkout. “Peoples’ memories are short and the kids are not going to let it fade away, and we are here to ride the wave.”
Martin Wilbur contributed to this article.
