Bulletproof backpacks, active shooter drills, assemblies on gun violence and school shootings are now the reality for students around the country. These problems need to be addressed. 20 years ago, school shootings were not at the forefront of students’ and parents’ minds when sending their kids to school, but now that is a worry for people across the country, as there has been a massive rise in school shootings.
Students Demand Action (SDA), an organization of high school and college students who are fighting gun violence, has made its way to WCHS to spread awareness of the reality of gun violence. As much as students and parents would love to live in a world where there are no school shootings, they ultimately must take matters into their own hands, since school shootings are becoming extremely normalized.
“[The goal of Students Demand Action is] to advocate for gun violence prevention policies in our community and teach others how they can become advocates too,” senior Evie Namath said.
SDA has been a club at WCHS for three years, participating in activities like sit-ins at the MCPS Board of Education. When students go directly to the Board of Education, there is a much more significant impact than non-face-to-face interactions. This is just one of the many things that SDA has done so far to progress towards its goal of having stronger gun safety laws.
“Something that I would love to do in the future is help run a school-wide assembly to raise awareness [of gun safety] on a broader scale,” senior Luke Molinaro said.
Outside of the branch that is hosted at WCHS, SDA has become a staple in many schools across the country as a way for students to voice their opinions and concerns about their safety in school. SDA is also aligned with Moms Demand Action, an organization that has a similar goal of taking on gun violence. These moms work in courtrooms, boardrooms and communities in order to keep families, kids and neighborhoods safe.
“[A few things that we do at our meetings are] writing letters to legislators, creating social media posts and posters that educate people on proper firearm storage, gun legislation and current events regarding gun violence and safety,” Namath said.
Working as co-presidents, Namath and Molinaro strive to make an even larger impact than ever before. They create informative presentations at each meeting, educating members on the latest news regarding gun violence and safety. These presentations include news about recent shootings across the country and new gun restriction laws.
“I have been a member since freshman year and have been in leadership since junior year,” Namath said. “I hope to see more underclassmen joining and participating. Once we leave, our positions need to be filled, and I just hope to see another set of students who are also passionate about keeping SDA going.”
Although SDA has already made great impacts at WCHS, they want to ensure that leaders in the future continue to uphold the progress that they have made so far and continue to make more of an impact.
“I just hope that SDA fosters an inclusive community that feels open and safe to discuss their opinions and concerns regarding gun violence and adjacent fields,” Molinaro said.
