Just a day after Highland Park High School’s own walkout was spoiled by a student seen with a gun at school, LFHS students gathered to participate in the national school walkout. 

Students gathered in the front lawn Wednesday at noon ready to use their voices demand that action be taken to protect people from gun violence.   Only 96 days into 2023 and there have already been 140 mass shootings. 

After a student was arrested for bringing a gun to Highland Park on Tuesday and the Nashville shooting before Spring Break that left seven people dead including three children, the threat of gun violence has become even more of a reality for students here.

The walk out was led by Students Demand Action, a national organization committed to fighting against gun violence. Schools across the US gathered for a national school walk this week. 

“While the walkout won’t directly impact policies or legislation, this was our way of getting the greater community involved and spreading our message in a peaceful yet striking way,” senior Alia Attar, co-leader of Lake Forest & Lake Bluff SDA, said. 

As the students walked out across the lawn to the other side of the sidewalk for the walkout, they were met with a crowd of supportive parents and community members waiting to stand with them. 

“We’re here to support the kids at the school. We want to protect them, not guns. We think it’s a public health concern, not a political concern,” community member Stephanie Bell said. 

It is not just students who are impacted by the gun violence in schools, it impacts teachers, parents, and entire communities all in their own way.

“I think it’s so important what you guys are doing and for us just to be here to support you,” Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart said. “You know what it’s like to have to do these lockdown drills and live through that in a way that we can’t understand.”

Students now have to consider their safety in a place that is typically known as a safe environment. 

“This morning I was a little afraid to do this, which shouldn’t be normal, and afraid to go to school, but you have to support it,” SDA member junior Maya Taha said.

School safety has become a topic of worry among many students rather than school activities. 

“You shouldn’t sit there in fear when you’re supposed to be concentrating on math or AP classes,” State Senator Julie Morrison said. 

One of the most evident ways to provoke change is speaking up, Attar said.

“We need to be consistent when acknowledging gun violence since it helps create a presence that reflects the urgency and importance of gun safety and violence prevention,” Attar said.

Securely storing guns is one way to reduce the risk of harm.  

SDA is working on passing a secure storage resolution plan which asks the district to send out information on how to “safely and legally store guns and get them out of the wrong hands” twice a year, Attar said. 

“I think we’ve just got to get people talking,” Hart said. “This is a simple thing to ask people to store your guns safely.”

Even so, there is a looming fear that gun violence will continue to spread. After an incident occurred just two days ago, less than 15 minutes from LFHS, students worry about what that means for the future. Highland Park was also the site of a mass shooting on July 4 that left seven people dead and 48 injured. 

“There’s always a possibility that it can happen here,” Taha said. 

The walkout brought students with the same goals to stop the violence together: spread the word. 

“It’s incredibly important to keep doing this and involve your local legislators,” Morrison said. “Let them hear you. Let them see you.”