For the third time in four years, students participated in a nationally organized walkout in protest of gun violence.
The walkout, organized by juniors Zoie Durham and Nora Kaelber, occurred at noon today and followed the shooting of two SHHS students in Maple Heights Aug. 30, in which senior Jayden Bonner was killed and another student was wounded.
“I think because of what happened this past week, it made me more aware of what’s happening and it gave me another reason to be here” junior Asher Sullivan said.
Student leaders of the walkout chanted call and response phrases into a megaphone including, “Protect kids – not guns,” “No more silence – end gun violence,” “Our blood – your hands,” “My life – your gun,” “Books not bullets,” and “How many more – no more.”
The walkout ended at 12:27 p.m., when police and security moved students back inside for reasons that are not clear. “I heard it was people jumping up and down,” said senior Joelle Burge. “I also heard it was a fight.”
“There were a lot of people participating in the walkout,” said sophomore Ke’Aryn Green. “During the open mic section, a group of students circled around each other, and there was going to be a fight, supposedly, but some others said they were dancing.”
Junior D’Angelo Pettis said people intervened to prevent a fight. “And then it was ’bout to be a dance circle, but they ended up breaking up the dance circle because they thought it was gonna be a fight. It was just normal kids being kids, dancing — normal dances, TikTok dances. It was totally separate [from the walkout]. Just kids being kids,” he said.
Dean of Students Greg Zannelli made a P.A. announcement instructing students to go to their seventh-period class.
Sophomore Kara Ekeberg said that the walkout was important, but some student behavior ruined it. “This walkout could have shown the country that we as students understand why we were fighting, and that we can stop violence even though we are overlooked,” she said.
In March 2018, students led a silent walkout after the Parkland, Florida shooting, in which they observed 17 minutes of silence for the victims. Students walked out in May 2022 to advocate stricter gun laws as part of a nationwide walkout organized by gun legislation advocacy organization Students Demand Action, in response to the Uvalde, Texas mass school shooting. In April 2023, students walked out again in response to a mass shooting at a Nashville school.
Some students voiced concern over the administration’s role in organizing the event. “I feel like they could have just not made an announcement, not sent us an email. Let it keep being student organized,” senior Maria Bucalo said.
Students Demand Action, a group launched two weeks after the Parkland shooting, organized the nationwide walkout. On its website, under the “How” tab, the group offers a list of steps for students who want their school to participate. The first step states: “Ask your administration to support your advocacy efforts. Your walkout isn’t targeted against the school administration. Your first priority is to work with them.”
Sophomore Rachel Klein said that the protest would have benefited from more supervision. “I think it would be more helpful to have more adults helping to keep the chaos, like, under control by making sure people who actually want to be here are here,” she said. “I think this is a good cause, and I think it should be taken more seriously by the students considering gun violence has impacted Shaker.”
Junior Ruthie Foreman didn’t attend the walkout. “If it was real and actually student-led, I would go. The whole point is to make a statement, and if your statement is to go to designated spots and stay there, that’s not really helping anybody out or making any waves,” she said.
Kaelber said that though the walkout wasn’t fully successful, she hopes it raised awareness. “I think that the walkout was a great idea and I’m glad I organized it, but I also think that it was kind of unsuccessful since about half of the people there weren’t even participating and were mostly there to get out of class,” she said. “I hope that at least, since there were many people there, that it raised awareness for the issue and showed the staff that at least some people in our school are worried about violence.”
Administrators informed faculty of the impending walkout and provided instructions about how to proceed. Wyatt also sent an email message to families about the walkout Sept. 4. “This Friday, a nationwide student walkout is planned to raise awareness about gun violence. While our district does not endorse or promote the event, we deeply respect our students’ right to peaceful expression and are committed to ensuring the safety and support of all students—those who choose to participate and those who opt to remain in class,” he wrote.
Science teacher Sharita Hill said working with administration to coordinate protests has not always been the case. “There have been years, in my 10 years that I’ve worked here, where it was a truly student-organized protest,” she said. “We heard about it through the buzzing of the hallway. It wasn’t something where a document came from administrators telling us how it would run and operate.”
Hill said the intent was to help the protest be constructive. However, “We need to identify, or at least talk about, what it means to have an appropriate one.”
Sophomore Zoe Griest didn’t participate. “I feel like people are looking at me like I support gun violence. I just have a math test I need to take, if I didn’t take it my mom would be mad at me,” she said. “I’m all for ending gun violence, but I’m also for my education.”
Sophomore Anna Kaminski didn’t attend the walkout to focus on her studies. “I don’t think anyone supports gun violence, but we all have classes next period and some people can’t afford to miss lunch,” she said.
Ekeberg said that during the walkout, “people were still trying to talk, but people started screaming that there was a fight. Other than that, people were just standing around and chatting. Some were there for the protest, but a good chunk was just skipping class.”
Government teacher Kimberly Owens said that though she appreciated that the protest was student-led, it “doesn’t align with the concept of what a protest historically represents because there are no potential consequences. Willingness to sacrifice is a key component of a protest, and there is nothing sacrificed since students are allowed to come back into school and eat lunch. People don’t need to be arrested for a protest – consequences can be minor — but without any willingness to sacrifice behind the decision, it turns into an event.”
Junior Gavin Marston said the walkout would have been a success if it had not been stopped. “We do not need to ban guns as much as we need gun reform,” he said. “Other countries have similar laws about owning guns, but even they don’t have the same problems because ours are so unrestricted.”
Natalie Better, Carlo Dudik, Ezra Epstein, Graham Gurney, Claire Joyce, Andrew Mullen, Phoenix Randolph and Alison Teeter contributed to this report.
