While Some Students Walked Out, These Murrieta Students Went 'Up'

MURRIETA, CA — As tens of thousands of students across the nation walked out of class Wednesday to protest gun violence in American schools, a group of Riverside County high schoolers planned their own version of the demonstration. Rather than walking out in the #ENOUGH National School Walkout, students at Murrieta Valley High School held a "Walk Up Not Out" assembly.

Murrieta City Councilman Randon Lane was among those in attendance.

"There must've been about 1,000 students there," he said of Wednesday's event.

The event began like many of the others taking place across the nation, at 10 a.m. Students were told they could either stay in class, head to the quad to protest or head to the football stadium for a student-organized event at the football stadium. Many chose the latter filling the stadium seats.

At the stadium, attendees sang the national anthem and somberly read the names of the 17 victims who were gunned down Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

And here's where the Murrieta Valley event differed from many others.

"It was very non-political," Lane said.

The students did not focus* on guns or gun violence at this event; rather, they focused more on the issue of bullying and including others. Students encouraged their classmates to "walk up" to those who they may see alone on campus and include them; to "walk up" to someone and just be nice.

"They are making an effort to include kids, they are doing pizza at lunch, things like that," Lane told Patch of the student group behind the effort. "...Going up and walking up to those kids that they see alone and talking to them."

Lane said that at the 17-minute-long event, students were asked to stand for various questions.

"When asked these two questions EVERY kid stood," Lane wrote on Facebook. "1. Have you ever been bullied? 2. Have you ever had a negative statement made about you on-line? "

Students were also asked if they've ever contemplated harming themselves or about suicide. That, Lane told Patch, was tough to see as several students indeed stood up.

"There were a lot of kids who stood up for that," he told Patch. "I teared up, it just breaks my heart."

"This is stuff that we never had to deal with when I was kid... it's just very heartbreaking to see kids that have to deal with so much," Lane said, audibly emotional again. "It's the social media, its the negativity that kids have to deal with on a regular basis."

Murrieta students were charged with a task following the event: Complete 17 acts of kindness towards each other.

"If one act can make a difference, then 17 can go a long way," students said.

Following the student gathering, those in attendance peacefully returned to class.

Meanwhile, when the "Walk Up" event was happening at Murrieta Valley, students at nearby Murrieta Mesa and Vista Murrieta also held similar rallies, officials with the Murrieta Valley Unified School District tell Patch. Though those two schools were listed among the 16 Riverside County high schools who signed up on the official 'Enough' walkout website, most of the students at those schools also attended events similar to the one at Murrieta Valley.**

We've also received reports from Great Oak and Temecula Valley high school of walkouts that happened there.

#MVHS #RITEHAWKS Walk-Up was a great success and MVHS Students did a Great Job!!! pic.twitter.com/7UFFT6bZx2
— MVHS Leadership (@MVNighthawks) March 14, 2018

**EDITOR'S NOTE: Patch previously reported that Murrieta Mesa and Vista Murrieta only had the more traditional, "political" walkout, but was informed by district officials that they, too, held an inclusion rally. We also previously stated that guns were not mentioned, but clarified that they were not the focus of the event. There was a mention of gun violence in an opening speech about the tragedy that took place in Florida, we learned.

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• Murrieta Students Will Participate In National School Walkout Day

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