Local students organizing walkout
LOREN BENOIT/Press Coeur d’Alene High School senior Ashley Romanowski speaks about recent school shootings. Romanowski and a number of other students are organizing a large group to participate in the National School Walkout on March 14.
Coeur d'Alene High School senior Andy Johnson and other students speak with the Press Monday afternoon about recent school shootings around the nation. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
By MATTHEW GWIN
Staff Writer
Some students at Coeur d’Alene High School will participate in a nationwide walkout in protest of school shootings and gun laws on March 14 at 10 a.m.
The walkout at CHS is being organized by seniors Ashley Romanowski and Annika Silk, with help from junior Caid Wood and Romanowski’s sister, Emily, a sophomore.
Silk said the group wants to emphasize it isn’t trying to push a political agenda.
“It’s not a liberal or conservative issue,” Silk said. “It’s a human safety issue.”
Silk added that the group would like to change the conversation around school shootings from reactionary to a more proactive approach.
“We want to see prevention, and not just, ‘Oh, what do we do after the fact?’” Silk said.
She was also quick to acknowledge that the students understand policy changes can’t prevent all instances of violence. However, their goal is to make such incidents occur far less often.
“I’m not saying that gun control is going to stop these [shootings] completely, because people can still get their hands on guns, and we all understand that,” Silk said. “But, the main thing is we don’t want to make this easy.”
The organizers are not unfamiliar with guns, either. Ashley and Emily Romanowski are both members of the skeet and trap team at CHS, and Silk said she grew up with guns in her home.
Romanowski said students must take a hunting safety course in order to join the skeet and trap team, and are not allowed to bring their guns to school.
She said she would like to see some of those techniques applied more broadly to gun ownership in America.
“If we can run a club that safely, then it’s not that hard to run a country that safely,” Romanowski said.
Silk also made clear that the students’ aim is not to ban or take away guns. However, she believes that laws need to catch up with the times.
“We’re not asking for a gun ban — that doesn’t work in America,” Silk said. “Our Constitution has adapted with the times so far. This is one thing that still needs to adapt.”
The walkout was born out of the students’ desire to become a part of their government and demand action.
Romanowski said she created a group message with about 10 CHS students last Thursday. By the end of the weekend, nearly 50 students signaled their interest in participating.
Several students at Lake City High School have expressed an interest in organizing a walkout, too, according to Romanowski and Wood.
In a statement sent to The Press, Coeur d’Alene School District director of communications Scott Maben said the district will allow students and staff to exercise their right to protest.
“Students around the country plan to walk out of their classrooms on March 14 and possibly additional dates in demonstrations about school violence,” the statement read. “Coeur d’Alene Public Schools will allow students and staff members to participate in the demonstrations, recognizing that they have a constitutional right to speak out, assemble peaceably and petition our government for change.”
“District administrators and school resource officers will develop a plan to allow students and staff to exercise their rights, while providing for their safety and minimizing disruption to the educational environment,” the statement continued. “The district will share more information with families and the community closer to the date of these events.”
Besides just walking out of class on March 14, Romanowski said the students were inviting elected officials and community members to join them at CHS for a conversation about gun regulation and safety.
Ultimately, Wood said the burden falls on elected officials to turn pleas for help into policy and action.
“We go to school to feel safe and to feel loved,” he said. “We want to also feel loved by our Congress, but it’s not coming through as that.”
According to Romanowski, the walkout will only be the start of bigger things to come.
“It’s a process, so I’d like to see it started,” she said. “This is just the beginning of things. I know that this one walkout is not going to be the only thing I do.”