After Florida Shooting, Students Plan National School Walkout

SOUTHOLD, NY — Students at Southold High School, rocked by the news that 17 people were shot and killed in a horrific act of mass violence at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL are galvanizing for change — joining a national student walkout in April.

According to Colin L. McCarthy, a junior at Southold High School, he is advocating on behalf of the national school walkout.

"I am trying to raise awareness for the safety of students and teachers in our schools regarding school shooters," he said.

The national walkout will take place on Friday, April 20, beginning at 10 a.m., followed by a moment of silence at 10:15 a.m. to honor those whose lives were lost, he said.

For additional information, the students have set up an Instagram page.

The North Fork students are joining students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, who are joining forces to say it's time for change. After the horrific Valentine's Day school shooting that left 17 people dead and injured 14 others, current and former students alike say they don't want the school to become just another statistic. They want elected officials to take action and enact gun control legislation.

The April 20 national walkout, takes place on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine shooting, at 10 a.m. in time zones across the United States. The event also has a Change.org page, "National High School Walk-Out for Anti Gun Violence," and a goal of garnering 150,000 signatures on a petition. For updates on the event, check Twitter. Students are asked to walk out of school, wear orange, and raise their voices online and in local communities.

According to the petition, "We are the students, we are the victims, we are change, fight gun violence now! High school students across the USA, the way to fight back is here. There has been too much complacency on the part of politicians when it comes to gun violence. The time to act is now. Public school shootings affect communities and especially teenagers."

The petitions says that even after the Feb. 14 shooting, "POTUS has not addressed any form of gun legislation. The majority of teenagers have no right to vote, leaving our voice unheard. The government does not hear or care how these tragedies affect our lives. Seven children and teens are killed with guns in the U.S. on an average day. The violence of guns is being performed in our schools and our communities. Not the Senate floor. As the future of America, it is time for teenagers to speak their minds and put their frustration into action."

In Southold, McCarthy said he and his fellow students are not necessarily engaging in a protest. "It is a demonstration of students advocating for their safety," he said.

McCarthy said he first found out about the movement from a friend from Monticello whom he met at the DECA state competition in March.

"He had posted about this movement on social media and I thought it would be great to bring this movement to Southold and bring awareness of this issue to the community. It is a nationwide movement. My part in this is just bringing it to Southold."

Some safety upgrades that McCarthy feels would help secure the school would be both indoor and outdoor cameras, which would be monitored by someone in the school so threats could be seen before they ever got close to the school.

"I personally feel that no measure of precaution or no level of security can ever totally keep a tragedy like this from happening, however the chance of such events would be extremely less likely," he said.

And, McCarthy added, social media "has played a huge role in bringing attention to the issue. Videos of this tragedy were posted on social media by students inside the school in Parkland. These videos were very hard to watch," he said, adding that some felt they might be too graphic to share online.

"My opinion as to why students are waking up to this issue is because it has been in the forefront of social media and we all know that you can’t keep kids away from social media," McCarthy said. "In Southold, we are still in the very beginning stages of people starting to realize that this is a real thing that is happening in the world around us."

"Nobody should be able to have an AR-15 or any type of assault weapon than can cause this magnitude of death"

He added: "I don’t think that there is necessarily a set responsibility between generations of who’s protecting who, I think that the problem is that there simply isn’t enough awareness among the citizens of this country to understand that this isn’t something that happens once or twice a decade, this is officially the 18th school shooting in 2018. Tragedies like this happen all too often."

On the issue of gun laws and gun control, McCarthy added, "We have the Second Amendment for a reason and I do not have any problem whatsoever with people bearing arms."

If someone has a clean criminal record, "is in their right mind, and wants to own a gun such as a hunting rifle, or a handgun for protection I think that is perfectly acceptable," McCarthy said. "The problem is that nobody should be able to have an AR-15 or any type of assault weapon than can cause this magnitude of death. People simply do not need that kind of weapon in their possession."

After the deadly shooting, Southold and Greenport School Superintendent David Gamberg outlined his plans for enhanced security for the districts.

"We are in the process of implementing a range of steps with regard to the safety and security of students and staff in both Greenport and Southold," he said. "In some ways we are collaborating to share resources, and in other ways each district has unique issues and responses to those issues."

Both districts, he said, have secured the services of Dr. Melissa Reeves to develop a "robust crisis plan for both districts. We have teams of our mental health and administrative staff working with Dr. Reeves on these plans," he said. "It should be noted that Dr. Reeves is a premier expert in the field of school safety with a national reputation."

In Southold, Gamberg said ongoing work with the district's capital project includes moving all administrative offices to the front of the secondary building by the main entrance, meaning that all visitors to the building would not travel unsupervised throughout the building to get to various destinations, such as the offices of the principal or director of special education.

Other aspects of the capital project will include parking lot lighting and surveillance cameras throughout the district, he said.

In addition, Gamberg said the district is looking into staffing considerations that would enhance security as part of the 2018 to 2019 budget.

"A visitor ID management system and some surveillance cameras will also be installed when SMART bond funding comes through from the state," Gamberg said.

In Greenport, Gamberg said, an "extensive analysis of the policies and procedures that are followed to better ensure the safety of students and staff," has begun. "We are also looking into staffing considerations that would enhance security as part of the 2018 to 2019 budget."

In the more immediate future, Gamberg said, the district is exploring the way in which the building is secured in terms of entrance and egress throughout the school day.

"Considerations are being made to adjust the way students, staff and visitors enter the building to ensure that all doors other than the one entered remain locked at all times," he said.

Greenport, he added, is awaiting final approval from New York State to implement its share of the SMART bond which amounts to about $100,858 worth of grant money to replace exterior doors, provide for a swipe card system for staff members and add a visitor ID badge management system.

"There are other structural changes to the physical building and campus that are being considered through both grant money and the general fund budget. This work is ongoing and recommendations will be forthcoming this spring," Gamberg said.

Gamberg did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the planned walkout.