April 20, 1999 marked the worst high school shooting in U.S. history, promptly killing 13 people and wounding more than 20 others. According to History.com, two teens, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went on a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado later to turn their guns on themselves and commit suicide. Further leading to a “national debate on gun control and school safety, as well as a major investigation to determine what motivated the gunmen.” Investigations prompted the possibility that both Harris and Klebold chose their victims randomly, and originally planned to bomb their school, which would have killed hundreds of people. It has been speculated that they were both members of a group of social outcasts and that the school shooting was a retaliation to bullying which sends yet another big message, as to what can cause an event like this to happen. Over the years, many cases like this have been affecting us as people, and some have had enough; students around the world wanted to make a difference, and prevent school shootings from happening again. From this, a national walkout was born, allowing students from high schools all over the country to have a voice. But even though some people did feel their voice needed to be heard for change, others felt the day needed to be used for helping the community.

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According to Time, April 20th’s plan for another National School Walkout began from a student who lived just twenty miles from Sandy Hook Elementary where twenty students died in a shooting the year of 2012. Many students have since signed the petition on Change.org as the movement for tougher gun control laws only seems to grow in popularity. A student, Jaclyn Corin, stated in a social media post, “Columbine High School. Remember the 13 lives we lost to a bullet. Here we are, 19 years later, still fighting. We do it for you.” Time also mentioned another attempted school shooting in Florida the day of the walkout, “On Friday morning, before students from Forest High School in Ocala, Florida were planning on taking part in the National School Walkout, a student was shot in the ankle, and the alleged shooter was taken into custody.” Even though some people believed in their right to protest for the walkout, Columbine and many of its victims couldn’t feel more different. According to 9news.com the principal of Columbine said in a letter on social media, “ We know another walkout has been promoted by various groups, however, in Jeffco the month of April has long been a time to respectfully remember our loss, and also support the efforts to make our communities a better place… the Columbine survivors and Columbine community has supported our efforts as a way to hope and remember, and we encourage you to as well.” Columbine encouraged people to commit April 20th to a day of service, not a day of rallying; help the community by volunteering time to people in need. It’s been a tradition for the school since the horrific event and on Friday, many other schools joined in.  

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Schools all over the nation joined to pay their respects for the lives lost. However, high schoolers from more than 2,600 schools in every state walked out of class to protest. There were students who didn’t know why the walkout was occurring, resulting in them doing research. According to nytimes.com, Caroline Castellano, a sophomore from Hunter College High School recently heard about the name, Columbine. She did an internet search and she was shocked by what she found. Others participated because of events. Kathya Rodriguez, also a sophomore at the High School of Fashion Industries said that there “was a scare at her school when a student brought in a weapon.” That situation brought her a realization and she asked why didn’t Columbine “have a bigger impact on society?” Students who participated also wanted to make their reason why and voice known. Arielle Geismar, a junior at Beacon High, shared a word. She said, “We have been practicing school lockdowns since kindergarten. If we are old enough to be affected by gun violence, then you’re damn well sure we are old enough to have an opinion about it!” She continued with talking about other shootings that have happened. “We will not stop until 58 people can walk into a concert, 49 people can walk into a club, 20 first graders can walk into their classroom, 17 students can walk into their school, 12 people can walk into a movie theater, one black man can walk into his grandmother’s backyard and all of them can walk out.” Students across the nation spoke out and made a stance, and El Capitan was among the many schools that took part in this national walkout on Friday, the 20th.

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At 10 am, students from El Capitan made the choice to get up from their seats and walk out of school, but were these students who walked out doing it to actually protest or to simply  get out of class? In a poll, peers at El Cap were asked if they participated in the walkout and why; out of those that answered, 14.7% admitted that they walked out while 58.8% said they didn’t and the last 26.5% said they wanted to, but did not. Three out of the 14.7% that walked out voiced their opinions, explaining, “I feel that people should know that we want an end to the gun violence and that we want to live in a safe community.’ Another one said, to show the government that we do have a voice and we are united. I want to help in this cause because problems can only be solved if we do something about them.” A sophomore that didn’t participate in the walkout commented, “I think that the protests are important but they don't change anything. I understand guns have affected our world and how we live today as people, but they aren't as bad as everyone makes them seem. Guns were meant for hunting and protecting people. They're weren't meant to be made to kill someone. Bad people with horrible morals and bad motives use them for the wrong reasons.” Although most of the students were unable to participate, some still managed to join the movement in a different way; another  student commented, “I was unable to participate, I would have liked to but I didn't have a way to get back home so I just stayed on campus. However, I did my own movement by staying in school and learning because the people who had lost their lives would have wanted for us students to get our education which they didn't get to continue.” Which shows that we just don’t have to protest we can also honor and remember the lives lost, as both are meaningful in their own way.

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After finding out why students at El Capitan took part in the movement or didn’t, they were later asked another question to see what they believe the purpose or meaning of this walkout was and a couple of students responded with, “I think this walk out isn't meant for the sole purpose of honoring those that died in school shooting, but it's been bent to represent the support of Gun Control and Political Beliefs. Guns are not as bad as everyone makes them out to be, it just depends on personal opinion and experiences,” and, “This walkout was meant to protest gun laws in our country and to also honor the victims of the Columbine Shooting that took place on that same day 19 years ago.” However, Amara Quintanilla, a junior responded with, “I think the walk outs are a dumb way of protesting. People should be making a difference by helping others out and contributing to society rather than ditching school to make a scene.” Another student, a senior named Luis Ace disagreed, “It was a stand for us students to give us a voice to let the light shine on us to get us out of the darkness.”

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As for what the students of El Capitan thought about the walkout making a difference as a whole many felt a variety of different ways. Riley Hanson, a junior answered, “I don't think this is the way to make a difference as a big-picture kind of thing. I really think the way that we can make a true difference is by writing to our congress and making our individual voices heard as well as our collective voices.”  Carlos Magana a sophomore said, “I think it should because we're standing for our beliefs & how our thoughts can possibly change the outcome of something so big.” Amara voiced her opinion again, saying, “I don't think it made a difference in anything other than students' attendance. If the walk out was about gun violence like everyone says it was, the movement should have been about students helping students. Gun violence and suicide is caused by many things including bullying. We should go out and do kind to others.” Luis also claimed once again “It won't make a huge difference to the point in which everything will be solved, but I feel like its a good small step towards a difference.” 80% of the students  who took the survey also said they didn’t try to participate to get out of school while the remaining 20% said it was a factor but not the main reason. This shows that even though some students participated to get out of class many still did it for the the main reason of standing up for what they believe in.

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While the walkout on April 20th may have been seen as a repeat, another meaningless protest, or a bit too much for some, it was still a day to remember. April 20th became a day to not only to show your support to the victims in any way you chose, but a way to express how everyone felt about a current issue not only in today’s politics, but back in 1999 when 13 people lost their lives and more than 20 were wounded at Columbine High School.