Durango students put down their pencils and participated in a national walkout Friday morning to protest gun violence on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting in Littleton.
More than 50 young activists from Miller Middle School and Durango High School marched from their schools to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad depot before gathering at Buckley Park.
The walkout follows a wave of youth activism that emerged after the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 people dead.
The students marched to chants of “What do we want? Gun control. When do we want it? Now,” while carrying homemade signs decrying school violence.
Some students wore orange in honor of Francisco “Paco” Fernandez and Casey Marquez, the students killed in the Aztec High School shooting on Dec. 7, 2017.
The walkout was largely organized on social media, said Annie Heinicke, 13, a student at Miller Middle School.
“This is more important than school,” Heinicke said. “We want to be planning our graduation, not our funerals.”
Many students expressed frustration over the lack of support from teachers and school administrators.
They said teachers discourage them from talking about politics in school.
“Teachers make it look like they are trying to make a change, but they aren’t letting students talk,” said Miller student Iliana Garcia, 14.
Heinicke said teachers told students not to come back to class if they left because they would be given an unexcused absence.
“We are not marching because we want to skip class,” she said. “We are marching because we are the victims.”
The students said some teachers at Miller Middle School mock their activism and tear down any homemade signs hung up around the school protesting gun violence.
“Teachers told us we couldn’t make signs,” Heinicke said. “They were ripping up our signs in front of us.”
Durango School District 9-R spokeswoman Julie Popp said she had not heard about teachers tearing down signs, but all signs have to be approved before being displayed in the schools.
On Friday, students called for efforts to ban semi-automatic weapons often used in mass shootings and for mental health to be discussed in schools.
Miller student Mia Ciotti, 14, said health classes rarely cover the topic of mental illness.
“I am no expert on mental health, but I am quite certain sadness and depression are not the same thing,” she said. “But they grouped them together in a class one time.”
Popp said parents can check students back into school any time throughout the day, but students leaving class are marked absent.
Some students were somber, while others were visibly angry.
They said kids are taking matters into their own hands, and they have no intention to stop.
“They underestimate us because of our age,” said Raya Helfrich, 14.
mrupani@durangoherald.com
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