C ommon Sense Millard South High School • 14905 Q St. • Omaha, Neb., 68137
April 20th, 2018
Volume 18 Issue 7
March to the capitol for our lives
Students say never again and rally for common sense gun laws Johnna Sisneros Staff Reporter On April 20, 1999, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris walked into their high school in Littleton, Colorado, killing 13 peers, and wounding more than 20 others. Since then many of us, including this year’s graduating high school senior class, have grown up with the everpresent possibility and knowledge that an innocent night at a concert, a frivolous afternoon at a shopping mall, or even a normal day in geometry class could erupt into a war zone at the inexorable sound of a machine gun. After 18 years of constant news reports of the latest mass tragedy, one in particular seemed to push our fragile cycle of shock, outrage, thoughts and prayers, and repeat into a full inferno, fueled by a generational belief in change. Following the events of the tragedy at Florida high school Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the victims have transformed into activists who have single handedly organized a nationwide movement of young people all aiming towards the same goal of “common sense gun laws for the sake of the lives and safety of our youth,” says organizer of the Lincoln march Isabel Bousson. While some have felt the subtle flame of the movement through televised protests and school walkouts, the full scale of the March for Our lives Movement had yet make a sizable impression on our humble Midwest existence. That is, until March 24, when over a thousand people gathered in Omaha, Lincoln along with the rest of the country to march for their fundamental rights to a safe education and existence. At the end of the route, 18 student desks lined the steps of the capitol building. The simple wooden desks with orange chairs were adorned with dried flowers, put there by mourners of the loss of life at Marjory Stoneman Douglass and Maryland. In the very front of those somber looking desks, high schoolers gathered on the podium and spoke with the maturity and eloquence of any grown individual of why they are marching, and why they so vehemently support the cause.
“I have grown up in a world haunted by school shootings, and here we are fighting the same fight. That is why I march,” junior Hana Thom said. “I march for the victims and the survivors, for the scared and the passionate, for the families. I am here to march for those marching with me and for those who aren’t,” she said. While to some, these speeches and demonstrations seem like a bunch of “kids that don’t know what they’re doing” but to others, the determination and fierceness blazing inside these kids is not only inspiring but ironi-
Photos by Johnna Sisneros
cally, vaguely reminiscent of similar young faces marching for peace in the ‘60s, for equality in the ‘50s, and suffrage in the ‘20s. “I am here because I refuse to stay silent about this issue any longer,” says Lincoln Northeast junior Jaden Keller. “I don’t want to see this happen at my school, or any other school and it is action that needs to be taken to ensure the safety of students and teachers alike.”
#Enough is enough for United States students Lindsey Assman Staff Reporter “Enough is enough” was the mantra of the thousands of students throughout the nation who decided to stand up and walk out during the morning of March 14. After 17 students were killed during a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, students all over the country decided to make a stand and call for action to end gun violence. The walk out took place at 10 a.m. and lasted 17 minutes, for the 17 young people who lost their lives to gun violence. Here, at Millard South, around 50 students walked out of pridetime to show support and ask for change in gun control policies. In order for the word to get out, senior organizers Vanessa Chavez and Taryn Smith took the time to plan and spread the news about the school walk out. Students who took part in the walk out did not know what repercussions would be for leaving class, but they did know why this effort was important to them. “For me personally, I’m tired of innaction. My older sister was at Millard South during the shooting. My younger sister will be here next year. We cannot let
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Show Choirs celebrate a successful and memorable season.
this happen anywhere, never again,” Chavez said. Student participants said they felt that this action would show the support that Stoneman Douglas deserves, as well as, point out the basic human rights lost due to the shootings. “I wanted to show support for all of the victims, and I also wanted to show my stance on gun control. I feel like safety in schools is a basic right that is not guaranteed right now,” junior Danielle Swanson said. During the 17-minute walkout, several students spoke about the topic of gun control and the changes they felt should take place, in order to make schools safe. Among the speakers, topics varied, but always came back to the main goal of asking for change. Smith said she wanted everyone to see the importance of standing up and making a change during her speech. “My message was about how silence is acceptance. We have to talk about increased gun control because the consequences are life and death,” Smith said. Although the walk out had a good turn out, some students did not attend because of misconceptions about the purpose of the demonstration. Chavez said
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Mr Millard South. Photos by Emily Crawford
A frosty prom.
she would like to clarify that. “The point of the walkout and calls for gun control is not to repeal the second amendment, it’s not to take away everybody’s guns, this is NOT anti-gun. We are for sensible control, reasonable and responsible gun ownership,” Chavez said. Others simply thought the walk out would not prompt any actual change. In response, Chavez points out that “ ...we are showing that a lot of us really care and are serious about the issue and will take action because previous generations have failed to.” The national school walkout is not the end of students’ plans to make a change in gun legislation. Chavez and Smith are two of many who plan on writing to the legislature and continuing the fight for safety in schools. The national school walkout on March 14 was a collective effort of many young people who came from different walks of life. Junior participant Lauren Ashley, sums up the hopes of all who were a part of the school walk out, saying “Hopefully one day children can feel safe going to school and getting an education.”
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Girls soccer and boys baseball. Photos by Logan Foote