On June 1, 2022, some Glasgow students participated in a walkout advocating for gun control in America. An event that was intended to be inspiring, thought provoking, and most of all, peaceful, turned into a massive disruption and inconvenience.

Gee Riester was one of the people who planned this event, “the idea came up in the Annie Jr group chat. We wanted to do it on Thursday last week, but it was too late notice. I came up with the idea to make an activism Instagram page [@gms.activists] to plan another walkout.” The idea for the protest came from countrywide protests that took place last week after the killing of 19 students and 2 adults in a school shooting. Outraged, many citizens took to the streets to fight for more gun control in America. Gee’s goal in leading their own protest at Glasgow was to bring awareness to the issue, not make any changes.

Once the idea was set in motion, Gee and their friend created the Instagram account and shared an image announcing the walkout, when it was to happen, and what was being protested. Without receiving administration’s approval, many Glasgow students walked out of their 5th period to participate in the protest. With no plan or control, the students became loud and rambunctious, leading to administrators to come outside to deal with the issue.

Trying to get students back in class, administrators took the group inside. Instead of going back to class, a large group of students ran around the hallways, screaming, and disrupting the learning of their peers.

Due to the lack of control and discipline, administrators shut down the protest, punishing those who stayed. Students are trying to schedule a new protest on Friday, June 3, 2022, which happens to be National Gun Awareness day. This time, students are working with administrators to construct a safe and effective plan for students to share their voices.