On Wednesday, March 14, the student body of Hawthorne High School gathered in the two gyms in order to sign posters and sit-in for seventeen minutes for the victims of the Valentine’s Day Parkland Florida school shooting. This event, which was organized by the student council, was a supplement for the nationwide walkouts taking place in the United States, and was held in order to show our support for the victims and their families. In order to figure out how the student body and staff of HHS truly felt about the event, which carried an inevitable reputation of controversy about it, The Clarion decided to interview those in attendance .

The Clarion: Why are you here? Do you believe this is important?

Jamie Lessner: I do believe it’s important…I don’t believe someone should be able to walk into a school and shoot anyone.

Logan Rivera: It’s important, but I doubt it’s going to help anyone.

The Clarion: What do you think about the fact that schools all across the country, and even some in European countries such as England, are walking out for what happened in Florida?

Jamie Lessner: It’s a good thing, it gives a voice to what happened.

Mr. Jandoli: I think it shows that young people have a voice and are taking world-wide issues seriously. They want their voices to be heard.

The Clarion: Do you think replacing a walk-out with an almost assembly-like situation takes away from the dramatic message students are trying to send?

Mr. LaGrone: The message is clear. We are trying to make the world a better place, and that is what safety does.

Mr. Jandoli: We are still providing a platform, and you still see a voice of unity.

Rachel Konyak: I think it definitely takes away from the dramatic effect. If we had walked out, it would have shown that we are taking action.

The Clarion: Do you think doing marches or assemblies like these will actually send a message to those who have the power to make official changes?

Jamie Lessner: I hope so.

Kayla Cabascango: Probably not.

Daniella Bonafede: It has been a historical pattern that those in power don’t listen, so no.

Mr. LaGrone: Any time there is a large group of people, it gets the message across.

The Clarion: The school didn’t want this to be political; do you feel this is political?

Alexandria Henriquez: I don’t think so.

Mrs. Strang-Wolf: In actuality, this is a lot more political than I expected.

Jayden Manla: Not really, but at least we are showing that we care.

For the students who did not wish to participate in the assembly, the school offered them a choice to remain in the cafeteria rather than joining the rest of the student body in the gym. In order to get a variety of opinions, The Clarion  also chose to interview several of these students.

Chasidee Lopez stated that, “It’s stupid and it’s not going to stop anything because nobody is going to listen,” clearly opposing the sit-in. Meanwhile, those such as Kenneth Rubio said, “[The cause] is important but I don’t think I had to go to show that I cared.” It seemed as if the group of students who wished to exclude themselves from the assembly was a mix of those who outright opposed the cause and those who did not necessarily believe in its effectiveness.

Though the sit-in was meant to be non-political, it was met with both praise and opposition due to its protestive nature. However, while there was a mix of all opinions, the assembly was ultimately a great way for HHS to show support to those who lost their lives in the Parkland Florida school shooting, and all of HHS should take pride in the sit-in.