Day Of Service Or 4/20? Colorado Students Decide

LITTLETON, CO -- As students across the country prepare to honor the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School mass shooting by walking out of school on Friday, local Metro Denver students are facing conflicted impulses.

Should they walk out of school as part of the “National Day of Action Against Gun Violence in Schools,” or should they go to the 4/20 Festival for All Things Cannabinoid and catch Lil Wayne, Lil Jon, The Original Wailers, Inner Circle, Taylor Alexander and bluegrass band WhiteWater Ramble?

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And now it's been two months since the deadly rampage at a high school in Parkland, Florida. Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS are asking their peers to walk out, wear orange, rally and otherwise demonstrate to urge those in power to act on students’ call to end gun violence in schools.

Columbine HS itself will be closed, as it has been for many years, in honor of the 12 students and a teacher killed by two students in 1999. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed themselves after a shootout with police.

Columbine High School Principal Scott Christy urged students to use the school's annual "Day of Remembrance" for a "day of service" in a letter shared on social media.

"This year April 20 is garnering more attention that usual in the national and statewide media. We wanted to reach out to students, school leaders and school communities to share what our tradition has been and invite you to join us. We know another walkout has been promoted by various groups, however, in Jeffco the month of April has long been a time to respectfully remember our loss, and also support the efforts to make our communities a better place. Please consider planning service projects, an activity that will somehow build up your school, or perhaps pre-Day Without Hate event on April 20, as opposed to a walkout. The Columbine survivors and Columbine community has supported our efforts as a way to hope and remember, and we encourage you to as well."

Seventeen people were slaughtered by a gunman armed with an AR-15 rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine’s Day. Parkland students have been urging students honor the Columbine anniversary by wearing orange or walking out of school.

Monday morning, Marjory Stoneman Douglas student David Hogg tweeted, and then deleted, a reference to Columbine. The tweet said:

"I'm sorry for my miscommunication yesterday I said that we should all walk out of wherever you are on 4/20 that was a mistake on my end and is no longer the case. This is what the Columbine community would like to see on 4/20. #DayOfService"

The Action Network is planning several events in Colorado Friday. Organizers called on every school community to get involved in a way that “makes sense” for them. The organization says that those attending their local events should commit to doing so “nonviolently and in accordance with the law.”

According to the website, the event is to call for an end to child murders in school.

“No more parents sending a child to school who never comes home,” the site says. “No more teachers, coaches, principals, librarians or any school staff standing between students and a gunman. No more.”

Click here to find out which schools and community groups plan to participate in the events.

A Change.org petition with more than 256,000 signatures calls for a National School Walkout the same day. Click here to find school walkouts near you.

"Together, we will send a message that we won’t tolerate any more inaction on this issue," the petition says.

The event follows the nationwide ENOUGH National School Walkout on March 14 and the March for Our Lives event on March 24. It also follows a school shooting in Maryland on March 20, in which a 16-year-old girl was fatally shot by her ex-boyfriend.

The Network for Public Education and the National Education Association are supporting the National Day of Action Against Gun Violence in Schools. On its website, the NPA, based in Kew Gardens, New York, says the significance of the date for those focused on ending gun violence “outweighs any pre-existing associations to that date.”

The group suggests participants wear orange that day, and issued recommendations for all levels of schools on how best to handle the day.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
“Talk about what students should do if they hear others talk about guns or other unsafe activities. Sandy Hook Promise is an excellent source for suggestions. Ask students to write notes to their legislators about the need to keep their schools safe. Wear orange that day to show support for peaceful schools. Let the local press know what you are doing.”

MIDDLE/HIGH SCHOOLS
“Encourage all to wear orange. Organize a sit-in. Plan an on-site walk out during which students move to a gymnasium for an assembly or presentation. Include a moment of silence and/or reading of victim names. Have students write letters to policymakers about the need to keep our schools safe. Host a walk-in, where community members and policymakers are invited on-campus for a student-led event. Invite and inform the press.”

“Wearing orange, parents, educators, students, and community members encircle the school in locked arms, symbolic of protection. Read the victims’ names or observe silence. March to or schedule a meeting at a local legislator’s office. Deliver letters that ask for changes to gun laws as well as increases in funding for school-based mental health services. Arrange a press conference with student and teacher speakers.”

ON YOUR OWN
“Hand deliver your letter that asks for improved gun control laws in your state to the office of your local representatives. Call your member of Congress and discuss what you believe should be done to reduce gun violence in schools. Wear orange that day.”

Patch reporter Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

Photo credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images