Fed-up Hilton Head High student on ‘walk-in’: ‘There is no limit to what our schools can do’

On Dec. 14, 2012, after the slaughter of 20 innocent children at Sandy Hook Elementary School, I believed things would change.

On June 17, 2015, when churchgoers at the Emanuel AME Church were shot in their place of worship, I thought things would change.

In both instances, nothing did.

We had the same gun control debates, the same senators promising to work together, but in the end, there were no results. Even the president could not hide the pain he felt when he sang “Amazing Grace” to an audience of broken hearts and mourning families.

I eventually became callused to the empty promises made by politicians on both sides. The numbness I felt to their promises was shared by many of my peers. We had grown weary of hearing the words without action.

Last month, the shooting at the Stoneman Douglas High School took 17 more innocent lives.

My subconscious mind could not help but compare my school to theirs, our badge as “Palmetto’s Finest” to Parkland’s high-achieving student body; our safe and fairly wealthy island residents to the rich suburbs of Miami. The greatest pain I felt and the greatest frustration I felt was that, yet again, empty promises would be made.

And then the students of Parkland began to organize.

All over the country, talk of walkouts began to spread like wildfire. At Hilton Head Island High School, discussions of a walkout became so prominent in the daily conversation of students that accounts were made on social media to organize the student body in solidarity. And as proud as I was that we, as students, were standing up to what we perceived as inaction by politicians on both the left and the right, I couldn’t ignore the dangers present in walking out.

First, the district had promised to bring disciplinary action against those who participated. Second, the danger of a crowd of students walking into a confined area outside without the protections of proper security agents was prominent in my mind. Finally, the uncontrolled and quite wild nature of a walkout could lead to the dilution of the message that students were trying so hard to send: Solidarity.

Thankfully, our principal Amanda O’Nan worked diligently with our student body to create a “walk in” — a way to remember those whose lives had been lost, to send our condolences to Parkland, and to make our voices heard locally.

Our “walk in” consisted of a 17-minute ceremony where every Parkland victim’s name was read aloud with a short description of their lives.

Next, we proceeded to the gym to display the T-shirts that had been paid for by anonymous donors to help us show our support and care for the student body of Parkland.

After that, during ILT (independent learning time) we were given the opportunity to go o the office of our principal and pick up a list of our state representatives’ phone numbers.

This “walk in” gave us a voice in a safe and orderly way, and it allowed the administration to keep us as safe as possible during every step.

What I have learned from this experience is that when the administration and the student body work together, amazing things can happen. I have no doubt that the Parkland shooting will not be the last, but I also now have the confidence to say that this will not be the last time we, as students, speak up.

In a time of youth activism and frustration, it is necessary and beneficial that the student body does not ignore the needs of the administration, and that the administration does not try to quell the voices of the student body.

If these two sectors of our education system work together, it is my belief as a student, an activist, and a future voter that there is no limit to what our schools can do.

This story was originally published March 31, 2018 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Fed-up Hilton Head High student on ‘walk-in’: ‘There is no limit to what our schools can do’."