A March in April: Students Take a Stand Against Violence

In commemoration of the lives lost to violence and shootings in schools, most recently the seventeen killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida on February 14, a committee of Benet seniors organized a school wide walkout on April 20, the anniversary of the infamous Columbine shooting. This Benet walkout was in solidarity with the broader movement of national student-lead school walkouts orchestrated as a call to end violence in schools. By adopting such a visible gesture as walking out of the school building in the middle of classes, high school students across America are banding together to hold lawmakers and others accountable for the epidemic of violence that has been plaguing American schools.
The Benet walkout was organized by the committee and with the help and support of faculty representatives. All in all, the planning process and hard work spanned over seven weeks. The walkout itself was a half-hour break between third and fourth period classes that students could spend in one of four ways. Those who wished to walk out could congregate on the front steps to the St. Martin entrance and listen to speakers from the Student Walkout Committee and Benet Board member and Sacred Heart Prioress, Sr. Mary Bratrsovsky. Students who desired private, silent reflection could go to the chapel and pray. The library was open for students who chose to write letters to Illinois lawmakers and make their voices heard directly. Lastly, students who did not wish to participate in those three options could go to the cafeteria for a silent study hall.
The speakers outside on the front steps of the gym opened and ended with a prayer to stop violence. They read alarming statistics that demonstrated just how many students in America are, or will be, touched by violence. They reiterated the need for respect in schools as well as the need to respect life in general. A moment of silence was observed for the students who were killed in the Parkland shooting, and a prayer was said. Every speech given at the walkout carried the overarching message that high school students, though young, are the future of America and, when banded together, have the power to set profound change in motion. By observing a school walkout in solidarity with high school students across the world, Benet students took one step forward toward making their voices heard.