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| Jessica Bauer Walker supports the student walkout |
and Ben Hauver
Bengal News West Reporters
A sense of tension is
building as high school students in the West Side prepare to take a stance
against gun violence.
They are among the young
people across the country who are uniting as a show of solidarity as they
prepare to walkout of their classrooms on March 14 for 17 minutes, one minute
for each of the lives lost in the recent shooting in Parkland, Florida.
The student member of
Buffalo’s Board of Education, Farhiya Diriye, is planning to participate in the walkout at
her own high school, Leonardo daVinci.
“We don’t want prayers,”
Diriye said. “It’s not effective what we have going on right now.”
According to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, on average seven people 19 years old and
younger die every day from gun violence. In 2016, there was a total of 38,658 gun-related
deaths in the United States.
“Study after study bears out
the fact that more guns do not make us more safe,” said Paul McQuillen, upstate
coordinator for New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. “There is no truth to the
statement that a good guy with a gun is going to beat a bad guy with a gun.”
Last week, Florida Gov. Rick
Scott signed legislation that would lead to the training and arming of teachers
across the state with the intent to prevent future shootings. The initiative includes
a $400 million package aimed at various programs for the state's school system,
including a mobile-crisis team and improved assistance for mental health.
New York State is not
considering similar legislation at this time.
In Buffalo schools, precautions
being taken include on-campus practice for how to respond in the event of an
active shooter situation.
Jessica Bauer Walker expresses her support for the students:
“My kids are young,” said Jessica Bauer Walker,
executive director for The Community Health Worker Network of Buffalo. “Since
they were in kindergarten they’ve been having simulated drills around school
shootings, which is heartbreaking. Pretending someone is coming into school to
shoot them can be traumatizing.”
Bauer Walker added that she
has noticed a strong sense of activism on this issue from younger people. Diriye
noticed this as well in her classmates at Leonardo daVinci.
"As students, we're
asking for gun regulations instead of giving more guns to teachers,"
Diriye said. "More guns means more possibility for violence and I don't
think you should fight fire with fire."
The Buffalo Board of
Education is expected to release a set of protocols to guide faculty and
administration in handling students who plan to participate in the March 14 walkout.
Regardless of what the Board of Education decides, students on the West Side
and across Buffalo and the nation are determined to have their voices heard.
“They plan to go outside and
have a rally and have speeches and have a moment of silence for them (victims
of the shooting in Parkland, Florida)," Diriye said, “to recognize what happened and show the
importance that it should never happen again.”
https://soundcloud.com/benjamin-hauver/walk-outmp3
