'Childish' gimmick or smart idea? Students weigh in on Beaufort County school protests

Adequate alternative or feel-good gimmick?

All but 81 of Beaufort County School District’s 6,360 high school students abided by administrators’ calls to stay in school during the nationwide walkout event held Wednesday morning, the one-month anniversary of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

Superintendent Jeff Moss and the district discouraged students from participating in the walkout, which they said could have potentially exposed students to a gunman. Moss allowed individual schools to determine suitable indoor alternatives forms of protest.

But the schools setting their own terms proved divisive among students, particularly at Bluffton High. A moment of silence — less than a minute, according to several students — and the writing of messages substituted walking out, an alternative some Bluffton High students said, in hindsight, was “childish.”

“I felt the way they handled the substitution was childish,” said sophomore Dennis Dougherty, who did not walk out. “They didn’t provide us a suitable amount of time.”

Senior Richard Gutierrez agreed, calling the brief moment of silence and short writing time “ridiculous” and “rude.”

At Beaufort High School, students gathered in the gym and read messages principal Bonnie Almond approved in advance. In the middle of the basketball court sat 17 empty chairs, one for each victim.

Just one May River High School student walked out. The rest “walked in” by standing in the hallway during the appointed time.

Like May River, Hilton Head Island High School students lined their school’s hallways and read messages over the loudspeaker. No students walked out, according to district spokesman Jim Foster.

Bluffton High yielded the most walkouts — 76 in all.

Freshman Garrett Grace said he did not consider walking out and found the stance of the students who did a bit “ironic.”

“They’re having a walkout for school safety, but it’s less safe to walk out of school than it is to stay in it,” he said.

Instead, he and about 14 of his 20 world history classmates stepped out into the hallway for a moment of silence at 10 a.m. Afterward, teachers passed out Post-It notes for students to write messages to the victims, their families, lawmakers or to their own peers.

Students posted their messages to two bulletin boards during lunchtime, which Bluffton High principal Denise Garison opened up to media. All six Beaufort County public high schools allowed press to cover Wednesday’s events. Several other S.C. school districts, including the state’s two largest — Greenville County Schools and Charleston County School District — barred the media from schools Wednesday.

Talk circulated among Bluffton High’s student body in the days leading up to the walkout as each weighed the potential punishment for participating.

“There was no direct message on what the punishment would be,” junior Jacob Bierman said.

He did not walk out and, instead, is planning to attend the March for Our Lives walk in Washington, D.C., on March 24 to call for stricter gun legislation.

Cutting class is considered by the district to be a level one offense, meaning a variety of options are available for school administrators. Some Bluffton High student athletes said they’ve been told that participating in the walkout will mean a suspension from the next game.

Freshman Addison Bowers said she will have an all-day in-school suspension Thursday for walking out Wednesday morning.

“I’m completely fine getting in trouble for standing up for people who lost their lives,” she said.

Other repercussions, such as colleges potentially revoking acceptance to high school seniors, weighed on some students, despite many universities issuing statements informing incoming freshman that participation in a protest would not affect admissions decisions.

But for Bluffton High junior Alissa Boockmeyer — who plans to attend the University of Copenhagen, an international school that has not issued a statement similar to those in the U.S. — the risk wasn’t worth it.

“I wondered how it would tarnish my transcript,” she said.

She, along with Bierman, junior Perla Jimenez and junior Jerusha Lopez, chose not to walk out.

“(The conversation) was about skipping school,” Lopez said. “To me, it just ruins the meaning of the walkout.”

It wasn’t only the students walking out Wednesday

Doctors and nurses from Beaufort Pediatrics stood along Ribaut Road Wednesday morning as the office participated in a nationwide school walkout event to protest gun violence.

Seventeen white crosses, each with an American flag, were placed in the ground along the road for the event spearheaded by registered nurse Sydney Lubkin.

Accompanying signs read “America, there is a cure.”

“I am horrified,” Lubkin said. “It’s just gotten out of control.”

In a letter sent to state Rep. Shannon Erickson last month, Beaufort Pediatrics Dr. Buddy Coleman outlined several proposals for a state committee considering school safety. Those included improved background checks, limiting gun magazine capacity, ensuring guns are more secure from theft and access by children.

“It’s obvious that this needs to be done on a state level; nothing’s happening on the national level,” Coleman said Wednesday.

This story was originally published March 14, 2018 at 4:51 PM with the headline "'Childish' gimmick or smart idea? Students weigh in on Beaufort County school protests."