'Enough Is Enough': San Diego Students Join US Walkout

Students at several high school campuses in San Diego County participated in a day of protest Wednesday, calling for safer schools one month to the day after the deadly shooting in Florida.The more than 3,000 walkouts were organized by Empower, the youth wing of the Women’s March, which brought hundreds of thousands to Washington, D.C., last year. Watch: Student Walkouts in Cities Across the US The group urged students to leave class at 10 a.m. local time for 17 minutes — one minute for each victim in the Parkland High School shooting. Students Walk Out of US Schools, Call for Stricter Gun Laws At Patrick Henry High School in San Carlos, chairs were set out – one for each of the victims. One student speaker encouraged classmates to take the time to talk with someone new as part of the movement. The school was also giving students time to register to vote if they were 18 or preregister to vote if they were 16 or older. In University City, 17 trees at Standley Middle School have been dedicated to the victims of the Florida school shooting. Fla. School Shooting Suspect Arraigned on Attempted Murder Charges “We are here because we can walk out and we will stand up for what we believe in. Because if we don’t then who is going to stop it? Who is going to tell lawmakers you need to do this?” asked walkout organizer Zachary Patterson. Eighth-grade student Aidan Ideker said,“I believe we should be able to go to school each day knowing that we are going to come home and our parents are going to see us again.” Students at Point Loma High School walked out of classes at 10 a.m. and gathered on the school’s football field.At Westview High School, students gathered to remember the Parkland victims and held signs saying “I want to read books not eulogies” and “Enough is enough.” At Santana High School, students gathered in the grassy area in the middle of campus in a show of support for the national movement.At Del Norte High School, students walked out chanting “Enough is enough.” At El Camino High School, students set up a memorial for the Parkland Victims on the grass outside a classroom, City News Service reported. Seventeen stakes were driven into the ground, with the photos and names of each victim attached. Below the photos, students put 14 backpacks, each with a personalized touch. There were soccer balls, a basketball and pom poms. A football and an apple were placed by the photo of Parkland football coach and educator Chris Hixon.At Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — where 17 people were killed by a former student — students filed outside at 10 a.m. local time and gathered to honor the victims of the Feb. 14 massacre. After holding a moment of silence, speakers addressed fellow classmates and faculty members, and warned inactive lawmakers to “keep in mind that many of us will vote this November and many more will flood the polls in 2020.”Students in cities like Chicago, San Diego, New York City, Los Angeles, Miami and across the Bay Area, from the elementary to college level either participated or are expected to take part.Some schools applauded students for taking a stand or at least tolerated the walkouts, while others threatened discipline. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.
Source: NBC San Diego