COLONIE – Rather than walk out, some 800 students at Colonie High held an assembly, where students expressed concerns and ideas about gun control, mental health care, politics and how to stop what happened in Parkland, Florida from ever happening again.
Dubbed, “The Day of Voices” students thought an assembly was more productive than joining the thousands of students across the country who walked out of their respective schools on March 14, a month after 14 students and three staffers were killed at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
“We don’t necessarily think that is what we should be doing, walking out being silent,” said junior Brian Grimes. “If we want to make change, we need to stand up and do something for our community and speak out. So, rather than stand outside for 17 minutes we are going to sit inside with some of our representatives and we are going to talk to them about what we can do to make a change.”
Robert Johnson, a senior organizer and member of ICARE, said the goal was to generate common sense ideas and try to come up with some feasible, effective solutions to making schools safer and then passing them on to the adults who have the power to do something about it. The ideas include better mental health care, better training, better school safety equipment, raising the age to purchase some guns to 21 and better background checks before purchasing guns.
“Just coming together as a community,” he said. “And treating each other better as a student body and not letting anyone feel alone and not let issues fester from a young age, and trying to create a sense of community where everyone feels like they belong.”
Student after student walked across the stage in front of a slide show of those killed in recent school shootings displayed on a theater-size screen to voice their thoughts on how to make schools safer.
“The issue of public safety, in particular school safety, has been a topic of controversy for decades. Is it about guns? Is it about mental illness? Who is to blame,” said Max Bomba, a senior. “In the manner of blame. Blame doesn’t heal the wounded. Blame doesn’t repair the bullet holes left on the survivors both on their bodies and in their spirit. Blame doesn’t create solutions. Solutions are most important.”
The solutions he mentioned are erasing the stigma too often associated with therapy so people will be less reluctant to seek help, to have a trained, armed police officer at every school, take measures to prevent people from obtaining guns and a limit on the fire power of those guns that can be legally obtained.
“Gun control can no longer be viewed as a partisan issue,” said one senior. “Gun control is now an issue of life and death. No child should have to die for gun rights. Assault rifles do not belong in the hands of civilians. They should be outlawed immediately. I implore all of you to take a stance on this issue and together ensure Parkland is the last of these tragedies.”
While gun control was the impetus of the nationwide walkout at some 3,000 high schools including crosstown Shaker and others in the Capital District like Bethlehem, Voorheesville, Albany and Guilderland, there were other ideas, more complex and profound ideas, generated by Colonie students.
“School shooting pose a serious problem facing our nation today. I think we can all agree there is not one quick fix to this complex problem,” said Michael Kane, a senior. “Firstly what makes Colonie safer than most schools in this country is the constant presence and support of the Colonie Police Department. Having someone on campus armed who is trained properly makes us feel safer every day.”
He emphasized the word “trained” and said he does not support arming teachers. He does, though, support raising money for tools and safety equipment like systems to seal doors should an active shooter situation arise at Colonie.
Many arguments and ideas eventually circled back to gun control.
“The idea any one of our lives could be stolen in a matter of seconds through the use of a perfectly legal weapon should outrage you and encourage you to speak up about your right to feel safe at your school and any public setting,” said Melissa Meany, a junior. “Don’t let the fact you’re young effect the way you react to the decisions of the adults running the country. If these adults can allow fully automatic magazine accessorized or assault rifles to fall into the hands of kids our age, mentally ill or not, they should be prepared to hear what we have to say about it.”
Randy Smith, a senior, though, said the issue of school violence is more of a mental health issue.
“In the vast majority of incidents of school violence, the students display many warning signs or signals before taking harmful action,” he said. “The solution, in my opinion, starts before the incident even occurs. Train everyone in the school ecosystem, school personnel, local law enforcement and students to identify and intervene to stop incidents and to give students help.”
He said an anonymous reporting system for collecting and reporting threats of school violence, making it easier for students to get help if they need it and identifying the warning signs will all save lives.
Colonie Police Chief Jonathan Teale – who was in attendance with County Executive Dan McCoy, South Colonie Superintendent John Buhner and town Supervisor Paula Mahan – said the department has been working with North and South Colonie school districts for 20 years, since the massacre at Colombine High School in 1999.
Some things that would help prevent such an event from happening, he said, are being worked on like more sharing of information between professional disciplines like mental health care providers, school teachers and counselors and the police.
“If you look at all these shooting you can make the argument that every shooter had a mental health issue and that is a key component,” he said. “Sometimes, people disclose a piece of the puzzle to a mental health care professional, and another piece of the puzzle to a teacher and if you put it all together you can get a full picture of that person calling out for help without telling one person everything.
“But, the way our laws are set up in this country, the information doesn’t always make it from one discipline to the other.”
Also he said, schools are required to conduct eight mandated fire drills per year but there are not any mandated active shooter drills and few schools voluntarily engage in them.
Ben Keller, another senior organizer of the event, said some ideas he favors include more funding for public safety measures like a security team at the schools and better training for teachers and students should an active shooter situation arise.
“We could have walked out like other schools but there is so much to be heard by our politicians that we needed a platform to give our opinions on what we needed to change around here,” he said. “I think they are going to listen to us because soon enough we will be 18, and we will be voters and if they don’t do something we will vote them out.”
Other Voices:
A senior: “Colonie can very easily be the next Parkland or Columbine. It could be our school in the news. Let’s make schools safer. Let’s get weapons of war out of the hands out of the hands of 18 year olds. Let’s stop putting a person’s love for a gun in front of the safety of our schools and our lives in general.”
Morgan Barret-sophomore: “On Dec. 14, 2012, 20 first graders and six adults were killed at an elementary school called Sandy Hook. Those kids were only 6 or 7 years old. During the day their childish concerns were torn away from them and replaced by real fears for their own lives and the lives of those they loved. When will it stop How many more lives do we have to lose.”
A senior: “I come asking lawmakers for a ban on assault weapons. I also ask for a recall on those weapons in circulation. I ask for red flag laws so those with a history with police or violence cannot get their hands on a firearm in this state.”
A freshman: “I propose teachers should be trained in self-defense. If there happens to be a school shooting, and in the event they walk in their classroom the teachers should be able to protect themselves and their students and make our school a safer environment.”
Dan Burman-senior: “School is a place where we should be feel safe and if those elected don’t do us right we will be too loud for them to ignore. These horrendous events should have stopped after Columbine in 1999.
Kenea Haley-senior: “In emergency preparedness classes people are taught to not just run and hide from a shooter but to seize and opportunity, if it presents itself, to throw a book or a desk at them or anything to catch them off guard without risking people’s lives. I don’t believe we need to take extreme measures, however I do not believe sitting in a corner is adequate preparation for this realty.”
A senior: “In order to make change we must stand together as one and push for laws to keep our school and schools across the country safe. The phrase, ‘there is power in numbers’ fits and that is a vital part of social change.
A senior: School should be a safe place and not invaded by giving teachers guns. We need to leave firearms to the military and law enforcement not to the people paid to educate us.
A senior: “How many people have to die before our country realizes there is an enormous gun problem. Going to school, to church, to the movies, to concerts there is no guarantee I will make it out alive. Yet there is evidently an irrational amount of people who fear losing their guns more than they fear losing their lives. It is easier to get a gun than a drivers’ license. That is not OK.”
A junior: “Today we have 17 minutes to remember 17 students who will never graduate and start the lives that even we as fellow students can still only dream about because another soul could decide upon himself to express his grief in the form of forcing the ultimate sacrifice upon others.”
Max Bomba-senior: “Every day, in the back of my mind, is the nagging fear of something tragic happening to me or my beloved friends at school. Living your lie afraid is not living at all.”
Robert Johnson-senior: At what point is change needed. This is our part in history. Our movement children will learn about generations from now. We have to be the change.
Ben Keller-senior: “The shooters across the country all have mental health issues because they don’t get the love that all of us take for granted. We need to treat each other with more empathy and we will be alright.”