Southern California students plea for protection from gun violence after Texas mass shooting
Distraught and frightened students walked out of schools in Southern California on Thursday, demanding action from U.S. lawmakers after Tuesday's mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 children and two teachers dead.
It is part of a nationwide protest to demand stricter gun control and greater protection for the nation's innocent youth.
In the Los Angeles region, student protestors chanted such slogans as "Protect kids, not guns" and "Enough is enough."
In Saugus, where in 2019 two students were killed and three injured in a shooting, school children are particularly disturbed. Mia Tretta, who was wounded in the shooting, rallied students at Saugus High School to protest gun violence.
"We are devastated. We are angry. This can't keep happening to us," she told KABC-TV, the West Coast flagship station of the ABC television network, adding that "This can't keep happening to people like us or kids younger than us. This is not fair."
She told the news outlet that "I'm disappointed in the people who are higher-ups who say 'we need more guns, we need armed teachers.' "
"We need less guns over here. We need a safe place," she was quoted as saying by KABC-TV, noting that "schools should be a sanctuary of learning, not of death."
Some 150 students walked out of Crescenta Valley High School on Thursday, reported KNBC-TV.
According to the TV station, students at Locke High School in South Los Angeles also staged a walk-out, chanting "protect our kids!" Some of the signs held by students said "Are we next?" and "Put the guns down!"
In Alhambra, teachers, students and community members came together to rally and called for an end to gun violence, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Los Angeles Unified School District spokesperson Shannon Haber said that the second-largest school system in the United States is aware of the walk-outs and that educators are helping students plan advocacy efforts and activities on campus, reported The Los Angeles Times.
Shooting threats and rumors continued disrupting some Southern California schools days after the Texas shooting. A high school in City of Rosemead was closed Friday after a potential threat posted on social media. An elementary school in the City of Whittier was placed on lockdown Friday as a precaution while police officers were searching for armed suspects nearby.
Disillusioned with adult lawmakers and elected officials who refuse to take the necessary steps to protect them, American students are taking matters into their own hands. They have formed nationwide activist groups like Students Demand Action.
The website of Students Demand Action writes, "We are young activists committed to ending gun violence. We are Students Demand Action," and "We deserve better, and we're turning our outrage into action."
Started in 2016 as a pilot program, Students Demand Action now has more than 400 groups across the country and active volunteers in every state and Washington, D.C., according to the website.
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