Iowa City students stage walkout in wake of Florida school shooting

The news that 17 people were killed at gunpoint in their Florida school last week hit close to home for West High senior Amanda Aaberg. From Florida herself, she checked in with all the friends she still kept in touch with to make sure they were OK.

The thought that they might be hurt was jarring, but maybe not as jarring as the one that followed.

“I was thinking, ‘That could have happened to anyone,’” Aaberg said. “That could have been us. That could have been my old school.”

Scared, angry and hyped up by the crowd’s energy, Aaberg joined more than 200 students who walked out of Iowa City classrooms Monday morning in an effort to send a message to lawmakers: School shootings must stop.

The walkout included participants from at least three schools — City High, West High and South East Junior High — who traveled to the Pentacrest in downtown Iowa City less than a week after one of the deadliest high school shootings in the United States.

On Valentine's Day, a 19-year-old gunman opened fire on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 and injuring 14.

Students at City High and South East began walking out of school at 11 a.m. Monday, some carrying signs decrying gun violence. The Iowa City Police Department was blocking roads, allowing students to march safely.

By 11:45 a.m., more than 200 students were gathered and chanting in front of the Old Capitol, and more were arriving. At noon, students began marching through the streets of downtown to the stage in the pedestrian mall, chanting "The NRA has got to go" and "Not one more." Speaking through a megaphone, West High senior Lujayn Hamad listed off the victims of the Parkland shooting one at a time, and students in the crowd repeated their names back in unison.

Small groups of West High students made their way to their cars Monday morning, headed downtown to meet up with students from City High and South East.

Hamad carried a megaphone as she left the school.

"At this point, you're either with us or against us," the 16-year-old said. "We are dying, and I'm not going to stand for it anymore."

Hamad said she is frustrated by the lack of legislative action after every school shooting she and her classmates hear about.

"Are we just money to them, are we only worth that paper?" she asked, noting money politicians receive from organizations like the National Rifle Association. "Pass some legislation to make it harder for mentally ill people to buy guns. Do something."

Lucy Cobin, a 14-year-old eighth-grader, made the hourlong trek from South East to downtown. She said she was reluctant at first but talked it over with her parents and decided to go.

“I want to feel safe at school,” she said of her reasoning for showing up.

In a statement emailed to the Press-Citizen, district officials said they supported the right of students to protest.

“Junior high and high school students across our district planned a student walkout for 11 a.m. today calling for government action to prevent school shootings,” the brief statement said. “The district applauds the engagement of students in social action and honors their free speech rights. Students were encouraged to notify their parents if they planned to participate.”

Specifically, for the absence to be excused, students have to get a parent to write a note of approval or call in, said John Bacon, principal of City High. He said teachers and administrators were not involved in planning the walkout. He said it may be difficult for teachers when putting together lessons to not know whether students will be in class, but Bacon’s bigger concern just before students took off was that the protest was a safe one.

“We also understand students have an issue they believe strongly in, and we definitely support students’ rights to do what they believe they need to do,” he said.

Steve Murley, superintendent for the district, said students initially told administrators that they were thinking of holding some kind of gun-control protest, though likely some time in March or April.

“One of the things I think is really important for people to remember is that our students retain their free speech rights,” he said. “They don’t give those up when they walk through the door. We respect that ... and certainly with the events of last week, we know there are teachable moments out there. We want to make sure we encourage our students to exercise those rights appropriately.”

Typically, Murley says, when students do intend to stage a walkout, staff tries to work with them to limit the amount of distraction it will cause for students who choose to stay behind.

A few parents stood on the outskirts of the demonstration, in part to show their support for their kids and in part just to provide an adult presence.

Jenny Olson, a parent to a seventh-grader at South East, said the news of the protest took her by surprise this morning, but she was proud of her son for participating.

“We feel like this is an important issue, and if kids want to show their thoughts on that, we think that’s awesome,” she said.

Another parent, Anna Bailey, drove her kids to the start of the City High walkout and even briefly addressd the students through the organizers’ megaphone. She said the shooting could have been anywhere — a friend of hers lives only 15 minutes from Parkland high school.

“It has to stop,” she said.

More walkouts to come?

The trek to downtown was familiar for some participating students. Students from City High walked out of class in November 2016 in protest of President Donald Trump's election. A few days later, students from West and City high schools walked out of class in response to a spike in harassment and racial discrimination in schools.

A point of pride for some walkout organizers this time was the participation from South East Junior High students. Some high school students were assigned with the task of swinging by the junior high to walk with the students.

Bihotza James-Lejarcegui, a senior at City High who helped organize the protest, said the idea to protest Monday first began circulating online among junior high students. The next step, she said, will be to set up meetings where high schoolers can get together and write letters and call their representatives — specifically U.S. Sens. Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley who accept money from the NRA.

“It’s important here, more than some other states, I think, to be vocal about it and communicate with these people,” James-Lejarcegui said.

The protest was Aaberg’s first time to walk out. The 18-year-old West High senior said she wanted to walk out in November but was scared of repercussions. This time, she said she worked up the nerve because she thinks politicians aren’t listening. Her generation, she says, is easily trivialized by others because of things like the Tide Pod challenge.

Ethan Seylar, an 18-year-old West High senior, said walkouts are the most effective way for students to voice their opinions.

"Legislation that affects us is passed every day, and we have no leverage where it's being made," he said. "This is our only leverage."

In a more optimistic spin on the same idea, Amanda Parsons, an 18-year-old West High senior, said protests like Monday’s are going to be how students like her make a difference.

“We’re going to save not only our generation, Generation Z, but the generations after us,” she said. “We’re going to make the world a better place.”

More students across the country say that in the coming weeks they also are planning to walk out of schools in protest in the aftermath of the shooting in Florida.