National Walkout Day: March 14, 2018

A Student's Look Back on March 14th: National Walk Out Day

By Nefertiti Cooper

The 17 victims who lost their lives to senseless gun violence on Feb.14th 

A month ago, students and staff at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School fled from their classrooms, running outside for safety. On March 14th, schools all across America stopped their everyday schedules and walked out, in honor of them. Nikolas Cruz entered the school in Parkland, Florida and tragically killed 17 people. For every person killed, schools stood outside to pay their respects; but, condolences may not be the only reason for the walkout. Politician’s bland response to the shooting has outraged Florida residents and concerned parents all over. Mass shootings like Parkland seem to be becoming more and more frequent and common. The easy accessibility of guns in some states, make it possible for the deadly weapon to end up in the wrong hands. During today's walkout we not only recognized those that were killed, but stated our stance on the gun control debate. Initially I did not take the walkout, or the school shooting serious. I feel as though it is unfair for light to be shined on and pity given to Caucasian students in this suburban town, when innocent African American teens, women and men, bystanders, and families are killed everyday, due to gun violence, gang affiliations, and most recently, police brutality.

Although it was important that we took a stand and call for the government to create/enforce stricter gun control measures, initially I had a “Why do I care?” mindset about the situation.

Grace Blay, our senior president, organized the walkout. While it was very last minute, with the help of our class adviser Ms. Dunkerware, Grace was able to construct a plan and outline for the school to follow for the walkout to go successfully. I was able to sit down with Grace and hear her views on the situation.

Seniors bow their heads as the names of the seventeen victims are called. 

Why did you take the initiative to organize the walkout?

“I personally, like many other Newark residence have witnessed gun violence. From seeing many R.I.P. t-shirts and bandanas, to post on my social media time lines; gun violence is a major issue within our city. Organizing the walkout was to show the lawmakers of Newark that we are not products of our environment, that we, the incoming voters, will not stand around, but vote for a politician that is for us and the betterment of our neighborhoods.

It was clear that Grace knew what she was walking for, but I was already hesitant on the topic, and during the walkout, it was clear my peers were too.

I asked Grace: What do you think you could've done to better prepare for the walkout?

“I feel that more class time discussing and researching gun policies in NJ could’ve bettered the walkout. Students who participated know that gun violence is a huge problem but many don’t know the laws that are behind them. More time getting to know about the upcoming elections and the parties views would have given the students who will soon be able to vote, more to think about.”

Again I was one of the students that was initially ignoring and unaffected by this situation and now I regret that I didn't pick up Mrs. Ruesta's and Mrs. Jones' hints earlier. This issue affects all of us.

However, I wasn't the only student that felt this way. Even though many students simply participated in the walkout for a few minutes out of class, or because their friends were doing it, but few knew the reason behind it. Many teachers were also leary about the walkout because they knew the student’s lack of knowledge and understanding of their actions. Staff feared students would become unmanageable and cause chaos once exiting the building, and worried about the attempts to get them to reenter.

With such a huge responsibility on her back, I asked Grace, How did you feel about organizing the walkout?


“At first I was scared to take a huge step in organizing such an event that involved the entire student body, but afterward I felt empowered. As a young female African-American women, my voice is often considered less valuable but the walkout demonstrated the opposite.”

I asked Grace to share with me what impact did the walkout had on her.

“Before the walkout I was timid to take initiative within my school because I feared backlash or for the student to not respect what I was trying to do. But after, I realized that my school is family. We come together when we need each other the most and no matter age or authority we’ll work together for a greater good.”


I hope University High School students took as much from the walkout as I did. If nothing else, we can all agree that gun violence is a major issue, yet no one seems to take it seriously.

Lastly I asked Grace to share with me why she felt it was important for University High School to participate in the Walkout?

“It was important for University High School to participate in the walkout because our students have experienced the impact of guns first hand when last year a gun was brought into our school. Although the gun was not intentioned for anyone within the building, it still caused a lock down to occur for over an hour and no one expected something like that to happen to us. This walkout brought awareness to all aspects of gun violence and not only to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that resulted in the death of 17 innocent lives.”

In spite of the initial lack of support from the student body, Grace did a great job organizing the walk out and keeping the students under control. As a senior, it was not only her job, but our job to open the eyes of our fellow classmates and other students of what is going on in our country. The walkout completely eradicated my previous thoughts of the shooting. It also really impacted my views on politicians, policies and politics. I realized that walking out wasn’t just for Parkland, but for my own community.

Yet it was about Gun control and gun violence, as a whole needs to be tamed for the sake of us all. We are no longer accepting innocent people being killed. We are taking a stand and letting the policy makers know how we feel.