Commentary: We students are taking a stand on school shootings: Will government hear us?

When Delaney Nadeau (Oyster River ‘24) asked me if I wanted to help lead a walkout to end gun violence, the answer of yes seemed so obvious that the question almost sounded rhetorical. We hear about school shootings all the time, yet our reaction always seems to be the same — offering our thoughts and prayers.

But thoughts and prayers can’t fill empty seats at graduation, and sometimes I wonder how many more thoughts and prayers will have to be given and how many innocent lives will have to be lost for our country to finally start to listen to us. In just 95 days this year, 128 mass shootings have occurred in our nation, a solid majority of them on school grounds.

As high school students, our main priority when coming to school should be the math test we’re taking that day, or studying for the SATs, or what we’re having for dinner that night, not simply staying alive. Though Oyster River has never had to experience something as horrifying as this, the unavoidable possibility that our school could become yet another ground of a mass shooting still seems to lurk on all of our shoulders.

“We walked into school today, and we walked out in a movement to recognize and call for change as we honor those who never got to walk out,” said Nadeau during her speech. On April 5, 2023, Oyster River High School students walked out of their classrooms to protest gun violence, specifically in schools.

But this wasn’t just Oyster River, this was across the entire nation. Gun violence in America continues to get worse, and the people that are supposed to be protecting us continue not to fix the problem.

We should not have had to walk out. We should not have had to miss any of our academic time. But we did. Because as students each and every one of us is forced to come to terms with the fact that we could go to school in the morning and never go back home.

Did this protest directly or immediately change the fate of the next school shooting? No. But our goal was achieved.

More local student walkouts

• Somersworth students walk out, urge action to stop school shootings: "We want a voice"
• Dover students walk out after Nashville shooting: "We are dying and they're doing nothing"

Around our school the entire day, people were talking. Friends were talking. Staff members were talking. Families were talking. To start to bring real change we don’t need much, but we do need words. The more people that start their understanding or learn more about this topic, the more people will be safe, and when given the option, take a stand.

Today may have been successful, but the only thing lingering in my mind right now is this: How many more times will we need to stand up before the people who can make big changes decide to take a stand as well?

If the students of America are screaming in an attempt to tell the government that we need help, will they hear us?

Grace Kasper is an Oyster River High School student in the Class of 2025.