Wednesday, March 14th, about ⅔ of the students on campus participated in the National Walkout to honor the 17 victims in the Florida school shooting last month, while  ⅓ chose to stay in. Some classes had half of their students stay in, and some were left with no more than four students who did not want to participate.

There were many reasons for kids not participating in the walkout. Some believed that the underlying reason for the walkout was actually a protest against guns.

“It became way too political. If it was just a memorial for the 17 victims then I would’ve gone,” said senior Timothy Vukasin.

Those in Mrs. Kenitzers fourth period AP World History class who didn’t participate in the walkout believed that there are other ways to protest without interrupting class time. Those who didn’t walk out had a group discussion that it’s important to be an active member of society, but finding a more efficient way to be.

“I felt I can express my feelings in another way other than protesting. The walkout took away the purpose of school. If the students are allowed to put on this walkout, we should be allowed to do other walkouts for different reasons,” said junior Kristina Salvatierra, another student who did not participate in the walkout.

“Behind the memorial, it was an anti-gun protest. I feel that I have the Second Amendment on my side. Guns are a way for us to protect ourselves.  Taking away our gun rights would just make it harder to protect ourselves from them,” said freshman Westley Baird.

Students in Mr. Eckenberg fourth period Government class were upset with the lack of an in-school memorial for Christian Lewis, a student at RHS who commited suicide earlier this school year. They thought the Florida shooting didn’t directly affect us as students, while Christians death did and yet the school didn’t do a memorial for him.

Even though the majority of students chose to participate in the walkout, those who didn’t had their own individual reasoning for not wanting to walkout. Just as those who did participate to honor the victims or voice their opinions, those who did not walk out made just as big of a statement.