Students Participate In An Alternative To Walkouts And ‘Walk Up’ Instead
- 6 years ago
Students at a high school in Ypsilanti, Michigan, were among those who participated in an alternative means of honoring the 17 slain in the February 14 shooting at Parkland, Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Students at a high school in Ypsilanti, Michigan, were among those who participated in an alternative means of honoring the 17 slain in the February 14 shooting at Parkland, Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, reports ABC News. Instead of walking out like thousands of students across the nation on Wednesday, they staged a "walk up." "All 313 students at Arbor Preparatory High School in Ypsilanti were encouraged to...[write] 17 sticky notes filled with encouraging, uplifting sentiments," according to The Blaze. The messages were then placed on lockers and doors. At large, the intention was to create a welcoming environment and ease the angst of students who feel they are on the fringes and/or targeted by bullies. Aquan Grant, the school's principal, told ABC News that afterward many students commented they "feel encouraged to continue to lift each other up during hard times." However, the "walk-up" alternative to walking out has drawn some criticism. A number of people have noted that it oversimplifies the complex motives for mass violence and runs the risk of making students responsible for identifying the troubled among them, reports Vox News.
Students at a high school in Ypsilanti, Michigan, were among those who participated in an alternative means of honoring the 17 slain in the February 14 shooting at Parkland, Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, reports ABC News. Instead of walking out like thousands of students across the nation on Wednesday, they staged a "walk up." "All 313 students at Arbor Preparatory High School in Ypsilanti were encouraged to...[write] 17 sticky notes filled with encouraging, uplifting sentiments," according to The Blaze. The messages were then placed on lockers and doors. At large, the intention was to create a welcoming environment and ease the angst of students who feel they are on the fringes and/or targeted by bullies. Aquan Grant, the school's principal, told ABC News that afterward many students commented they "feel encouraged to continue to lift each other up during hard times." However, the "walk-up" alternative to walking out has drawn some criticism. A number of people have noted that it oversimplifies the complex motives for mass violence and runs the risk of making students responsible for identifying the troubled among them, reports Vox News.