Its only gotten worse.
It was a refrain from El Camino Real Charter High School on Friday morning, where student Steven Bash reflected on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine massacre and he was gearing up for his schools part in a nationwide student walkout to once again show solidarity against violence at school campuses.
True. Bash, 16, vice president of the schools student body, wasnt even born on April 20, 1999, when two students opened fire at the school, killing 12 of their fellow students and a teacher before killing themselves.
“Were doing this because its been 19 years since the Columbine shooting and in 19 years its only gotten worse,” he said. “Theres been more shootings, and its not OK. “We want to tell lawmakers we want change and we want it now.”
Here is our message. We welcome all to walkout with us for whatever reason. Bring your signs. Register to vote at lunch. Get involved. Wear Orange.
pic.twitter.com/aAgRTK5ED1
— ONW Student Walkout (@ONWWalkout) April 19, 2018
The walkout follows many massacres since Columbine, the latest being in Florida, where in February a shooter killed 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Across the Valley, from Grant High School on the east to El Camino Real Charter High School on the West, students were walking out. But many stayed on campus to present their message to anyone who will listen, particularly political leaders.
Aaron Garcia, 17, from Cleveland Charter High School #nationalschoolwalkout pic.twitter.com/evwrnXPNPF
— Olga Grigoryants (@OlgaGrigory) April 20, 2018
RELATED STORY: 19 years after Columbine, these San Fernando Valley students are spelling out their frustration
For instance, at Cleveland Charter High School in Reseda hundreds of students will gather int he quad to spell out messages calling on governemtn officials to take action on school safety. The students will also be kicking off a voter registration drive.
At El Camino Real, Bash was leading an effort between El Camino and about a dozen others around the San Fernando Valley to spell out a message today – “We want #safeschools now.” Students from participating schools will spell out at least one letter in the sentence with their bodies and by holding up signs on Friday and take a photo of it. Their plan is to photoshop all of the images together to create that sentence, he said. Some students at Ulysses S. Grant High School in Valley Glen are also participating in the students plan to spell it out.
RELATED STORY: With calls for enough, thousands participate in student walkouts in LA to protest gun violence
Grant High School Principal Vicky Damonte said she gave interested students at her school her blessing since “it gives them a voice and their participating in something that is positive.”
And sure enough, at Grant, students described a huge walkout protest, where students stood on large outlined letters amid balloons, posing for a an aerial drone photograph that would be spliced together into the “We want #safeschools now” message.
Students and people against gun violence were also planning to gather at the Los Angeles Unified School Districts headquarters to rally for reform.
Across L.A., at Miguel Contreras Learning Complex, senior Wendy Ajiataz, was busy getting the word out about how her campus was participating.
Gun violence was affecting the neighborhood around her campus. And students are concerned about it — so much so that students are already talking about how their future votes will get leaders to act.
“Were afraid this might happen at our school,” she said, referencing a shooting in February, when a 12-year-old girl was arrested in connection with a shooting at Salvador Castro Middle School that left two students hospitalized, one in critical condition, and three other people with minor injuries.
RELATED STORY: 2 shot, 3 others injured in shooting at Salvador Castro Middle School in Westlake District; 12-year-old student arrested
The nationwide walkouts wont include student protests at the Colorado school that changed the way the nation viewed shootings.
Just as it has done every year since the April 20, 1999, shooting killed 12 students and a teacher, Columbine High School will be closed, and students there will stick with their tradition of holding a day of service to commemorate the tragedy in a community that includes both those who have pushed for gun control and to arm teachers.
Elliott Hyon, 16, from Cleveland Charter High School: Gun violence affects all of us. We need to tell our politicians to be active." #nationalschoolwalkout pic.twitter.com/9DNyQylqoH
— Olga Grigoryants (@OlgaGrigory) April 20, 2018
Junior Kaylee Tyner, who helped organize a walkout at the school on March 14, said the anniversary is a day to remember those lost in the shooting and those they left behind and politicizing it could divide the community.
“Every other day can be a day to push for change,” said Tyner, who wishes organizers of the national walkout had reached out to the Columbine community first. “But that is a day to respect victims and their families.”
Staff writers Olga Grigoryants and Brenda Gazzar, City Editor Ryan Carter and the Associated Press contributed to this story.
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- School districts across Southern California consider safety changes in wake of Florida shooting
- Students lead the way in marches around U.S., Southern California, in push for stronger gun-control laws
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