Timpview Students Walkout for a Serious Solution

Seniors Anna Mason and Maeve Norton, along with juniors Kailey Brock and Salem Davis, walked out onto Timpview’s soccer field carrying a microphone, a card table, several posters and their passionate speeches in their hearts and on the papers in their hands. Standing around the table, they prepared themselves for what they hoped to be an impassioned walkout by Timpview students in response to the shootings leaving bullets in American schools, and more specifically, the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL.

Wednesday, March, 14 of 2018 will be remembered in thousands of students hearts across the nation as the day they stood up and told parents, legislature and community members “you have failed us.” Started by the students from Parkland FL., protecting the memory of the 17 killed, and the ideals of a safe school environment and valuing EVERY life around us have spread like wildfire from school to school and student to student.

There was no bell, no announcement, but at 10a.m. hundreds of students poured out of Timpview’s south entrance onto the field. Looks of relief and excitement flooded the faces of the speakers. The arriving students looked to the ordinary card table where the walkout organizers stood, waiting for the crowd’s attention, waiting to share their values, but no longer waiting to make a change.

¨We join teenagers across the nation who have decided enough is enough. While our government remains divided on this issue, we stand together. We are not naive. We are not too young to understand,” junior Kailey Brock said in her speech to the crowd.

Focusing on topics of mental health, civil activism, emotion and the respect of life, juniors Jackson Sevison, Kailey Brock, Nick Child, Cristina Coca, Mariane Rizzuto and Salem Davis, and seniors, Maeve Norton, Anna Mason and Bridget Sorensen shared their views and support for change to a crowd of roughly 300 (links to their speeches are posted below along with their photo).

“It angers me that the shooter in Parkland, FA was able to buy a semi-automatic firearm after being tagged on the FBI’s watch list, and had a reported 35+ police calls to his house in a duration of nine years. We demand action from our system when it is called for. Our system has failed us,” Nick Child said as he stood on the ordinary card table above the crowd.

Current gun laws in the state of UT require a background check and permit for the sale of any gun other than a rifle, shotgun or handgun. These laws differ from state to state, but one thing these states all have in common is the fact that school shootings have increased and gun laws have not changed. The speakers and attending students alike, understand that as a collective body students now must work together to find a way to stop these massacres no matter their political affiliations.

“I’m walking out in remembrance of the 17 kids that got shot, and I think that there needs to be a change in gun control. I don’t think it needs to be as polarized as it is, but I do think that there does need to be some sort of change,” junior, and walkout attendee, Audriana Freeman said.

Whether the students who participated in the walkout believe in increased gun restrictions or not, many recognize that using their first amendment rights is their responsibility. What we say and think matters. We are the future leaders, we are the ones who must live with the decisions made today, this is our country. Voice your opinion NOW and make a change before the decision is made for you.