Here’s Why Minnesota Students Walked Out Of School

SAINT PAUL, MN — On a cold but sunny March day in Saint Paul, thousand of students from schools across the Twin Cities metro — both public and private — marched more than 20 city blocks from Central High School to the steps of the Minnesota State Capitol.

The demonstrators came from various backgrounds but shared one common message: “Enough.” It’s time the nation’s adults, especially its lawmakers, work to put an end to the gun violence disrupting their lives.

Students lined up at Central decked out in their school colors. When the march began, they chanted and cheered as they walked down Lexington Avenue. In that way, it sounded like a high school pep rally save for the sober rhetoric.

“This is what democracy looks like," they shouted, followed by "no more silence, end gun violence" and "no justice, no peace, stop executing our teens."

Sarah Munson, one of the organizers of the march and a student at Cretin-Derham Hall, told Patch she believes at least 15 different schools were represented at the demonstration Wednesday.

Munson said students are protesting because they no longer feel safe at school — a sentiment conveyed in the dozens of homemade signs scattered throughout the crowd. The signs read messages like “Protect Children, Not Guns," and "Am I Next?"

“A few days after Parkland there was a gun threat at our school,” recounted one student marcher. "I know a lot of parents that said if you don't feel safe you don't have to go [to school],” adding that most parents he knew of supported Wednesday’s march.

The demonstration swelled in size as groups of students who had been waiting along the route joined in. Neighbors waved and drivers honked in support. One of the officers assisting with the police escort cheered them on.

A brisk wind whipped up the cardboard signs as students walked onto the John Ireland Boulevard Bridge over Interstate 94. More cheers erupted when they reached the grounds of the state capitol building, where a steady walk turned into an all-out sprint.

One student struggled to keep up while walking in a cast covering his broken foot. Despite the injury, he said he decided to march Wednesday in honor of the Parkland victims who couldn’t.

Students ended the march with a rally at Leif Erickson Park outside the capitol. They heard from lawmakers supporting gun control legislation in the Minnesota House and Senate. Teens also spoke, discussing school gun violence in a tone that made them sound much older.

And, then the boisterous crowd silenced and became eerily serious.
One of the students, a teen-aged girl, read aloud the names of the 17 people – 14 of whom were students – were shot dead at the Parkland, Florida:

Alyssa Alhadeff (14)
Scott Beigel (35)
Martin Duque Anguiano (14)
Nicholas Dworet (17)
Aaron Feis (37)
Jaime Guttenberg (14)
Chris Hixon (49)
Luke Hoyer (15)
Cara Loughran (14)
Gina Montalto (14)
Joaquin Oliver (17)
Alaina Petty (14)
Meadow Pollack (18)
Helena Ramsay (17)
Alex Schachter (14)
Carmen Schentrup (16)
Peter Wang (15)

When she finished reading the names, he handed the megaphone to a teen-aged boy. He delivered a somber request in honor of those people just named: “Please be quiet as we honor, and pray, and respect them.”

Meanwhile, there were adults watching Facebook Live video posted to Patch the day of the rally. In a strange contrast, the adults wrote comments doubting the sincerity of the students and their comprehension.

“Aren't these the same kids that were eating laundry detergent last month?” one wrote.

“They are only marching to get out of class,” another commented.

Despite what keyboard critics may think, marching more than 2 and a half miles in Minnesota during winter was no picnic – and arguably less appealing than staying inside for regular class.

But more importantly, these kids were trying to impress upon adults in Minnesota and across the nation that this matters to them. The kids’ message is clear: They’re scared of school violence and frustrated adults are not stepping up to protect them.

Parents are anxious, as well.

“I think about [the Sandy Hook shooting] every single morning when I send my child to school,” Nancy Bitenc, a parent of fifth grader at Adams Spanish Immersion, told Patch in an email. “We have a false sense of security.”

Since the Parkland shooting alone, there have been more than 10 reported threats in Minnesota schools, most of them leading to classes being canceled, full lockdowns or arrests.

Teenagers should be thinking about homework, tests, prom, friends, and getting into a good college. Instead, they’re forced to calculate the risk of walking into school each day, and have to remind themselves the best escape routes were their school to be shot up.

“We must not normalize these violations of our safety,” a teen said in the final speech at Wednesday’s rally. “This is a start. Terrible frustrations, fears, and sadness into voting, speaking, and writing. Do not let these children, our children, your peers, your classmates, die in vain.”

William Bornhoft is Patch's Minnesota editor. Reach him at William.Bornhoft@Patch.com

Photo: William Bornhoft/Patch.com