Josie Shaffer wants all schools to be safe from gun violence, and she takes her role as the student member of the Baltimore County Board of Education quite seriously.
At the board’s Feb. 20 meeting, Shaffer, a Pikesville High School senior, implored school board members to lend their support to county students who want to stand up against gun violence. In particular, Shaffer asked the board to issue a statement of support for the student-driven March for Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C., on March 24.
The gathering is in response to the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14. The tragedy, which claimed 17 lives, was the 18th school shooting in the United States since the start of 2018.
“I don’t think this should be politicized, but students are afraid to go to school,” said Shaffer, 18. “I was trying to ask board members to say publicly, ‘We support you.’”
The board did not take a stand on whether to support the demonstration.
“People said, ‘You did a good job’ and ‘That was a good speech,’ but I don’t really know what they think,” Shaffer said. “There wasn’t a vote. If students are scared, they should have the right to say something. …
“Kids are watching and listening. It’s not like we’re dumb ‘Gen Z’ kids,” she said. “Today, we’re so connected online. We have the ability to read and [watch] livestreaming. … Kids today know so much more about what’s going on than kids in the ‘70s. We should be able to speak out and have our voices taken seriously. Government lawmakers aren’t the ones feeling this. We’re the ones feeling it. We’re in school.”
Shaffer said she was pleased to learn that Verletta White, interim superintendent of schools for Baltimore County, issued a statement confirming that students who choose to participate in another gun safety event — the #ENOUGH National School walkout on March 14, a month after the Parkland tragedy — will not be penalized as long as they coordinate their protests with school administrators.
“In order to maintain a safe environment for students who wish to exercise their civic rights during the school day, we provided guidance to our school principals and their staffs to plan for potential or spontaneous peaceful demonstrations or protests,” White said in the statement. “We view these moments as learning opportunities while providing structure and protecting the instructional focus of our schools.”
The walkout is an initiative organized by Women’s March Youth Empower, a youth arm of the Women’s March movement. It is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in every time zone in the U.S. and will last 17 minutes to honor the 17 people murdered in Parkland. The group is also encouraging parents, teachers, administrators and allies to join students for the walkout.
Shaffer said she hopes participating schools will conduct walkouts in an organized and thoughtful manner.
“I think we should do something like setting up voter registration tables so students who walk out of their schools can register to vote,” she said. “So many of them will turn 18 this year.”
Shaffer said it is crucial to keep the issue of school safety and gun control in the public eye. “It’s been in the news this long because students are speaking out,” she said. “I don’t want it to end in a hashtag.”
Attention citizen journalists! Jmore is looking for young adults who will be attending the March for Our Lives in D.C. on March 24 and would like to contribute to our live coverage that day. If you’re interested, please contact amandak@jmoreliving.com.
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