With the written consent of their parents, about 50 students at Glencoe District 35’s Central School participated Wednesday morning in the nationwide 17-minute silent protest on the one-month anniversary of the shootings in Parkland, Fla.
During the 17 minutes, the roughly 50 students stood silently on the Greenwood Avenue sidewalk facing Central, many of them carrying signs with slogans such as #ENOUGH or “Not One More.”
“It was a little nerve wracking but it also felt right,” said 8th-grader Charlie Olesker. “But I felt proud standing up for what is right. Seventeen kids were killed and they are not going to get an education ever so taking 17 minutes out of my education meant a lot.”
Three Glencoe public safety officers observed from a distance, but the protest by the Central School children, which is the home to District 35’s fifth- through eighth-graders, occurred without incident.
Another student participant, 8th-grader London McBride, said the protest was very important to her.
“I feel everyone should have the right to go to school and not feel scared that someone is going to come in and shoot them,” McBride said. “There should be laws against guns and not everyone should be able to buy guns so easily.”
McBride expressed displeasure with a school district administration decision not to allow the students to walk out of the building on their own, instead requiring parents to come and sign them out for the 17 minutes.
“It’s disappointing that our parents had to go out and get us and not let us go out on our own because they should understand we should be able to go out and stand up for ourselves and have a voice,” McBride said.
District 35 Supt. Catherine Wang said afterward the decision to require the parental escort out of the building was due to safety and security and reasons.
“We wanted the students to have the opportunity to have a voice and we were really responding to the student interest of having a space and a place but to be within the bounds of our school building for safety so we could assure where they were, who they were and they were not out and about,” Wang said.
Wang added that students were allowed to leave class and go into the school’s courtyard for the 17-minute period starting at 10 a.m. She estimated 200 students pursued that option.
“We felt the courtyard was a beautiful option for students to be here and have a voice and participate in a way that worked for them,” Wang said.
Back outside, many parents looked on as children lined up for their protest, some taking pictures. Many said they wanted their children to learn about the importance of exercising their right to speak out on an issue.
Among the parents who gathered was Catherine Wolf, whose son Jonathan is a 7th-grader at Central.
“We talked about what this was really about and then we talked about the general idea of standing up for what you believe in and protesting,” Wolf said. “I’ve been in many protests where I’ve marched along Michigan Avenue with a sign and I told him this is like training wheels. It teaches you how when you grow up, you can peacefully protest and make change in the world.”
Another parent in the crowd was Amy Steinback, who took out her 8th-grade daughter, Hailey.
“Gun control has always been a priority for me and it has always been important for my daughter to understand this is her generation and they can make change and this is their opportunity to stand up and do something my generation has yet to be able to accomplish,” she said.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelancer.