About 30 Homewood-Flossmoor High School students met at the football field around noon Friday to conduct a prayer circle as they called for an end to gun violence.
As they held hands the students, led by senior Jaira Pickett, gave acclamation to calls for God to protect them and “the children that are young and in the streets and hurt by violence.”
Students cheered and chanted “No More Guns” before senior Molly Stapleton read a post from Students Demand Action about a 10-year-old girl killed by gun violence.
The mini-rally at H-F was part of a national walkout to bring the issue to the forefront. The group Students Demand Action initiated the rallies across the country.
The group’s social media post read: “We’re fed up with mourning our friends and classmates stolen by preventable mass shootings while our lawmakers refuse to take action. Demand change with us by walking out of school on Sept. 5.”
H-F students said they came together after seeing the social media post. Some left class and others took part of their lunch break to join the mini-rally.
“I grew up a lot on the west side of Chicago and my older brothers being in the streets dealing with a lot of gun violence and there being shootouts in my neighborhood,” Pickett said. “I can say gun violence is definitely increasing and extremely dangerous, especially for the youth. I would say more young males are leaning toward gun violence. They don’t see the danger.”
“I have many cousins (in Chicago) who’ve been affected by gun violence,” said junior Malia Britton. Although the Homewood-Flossmoor communities are relatively safe, Britton said gun violence “it’s around us and across the country.”
H-F routinely conducts safety drills, including for a lockdown and other emergency preparedness, fire/evacuation, and severe weather, said H-F spokeswoman Carla Erdey.
“The purpose of these exercises is to ensure that students and staff are familiar with procedures, know how to respond in crisis and can act quickly and safely should an emergency arise,” she said.
H-F works closely with law enforcement and first responders to review and practice protocols, Erdey said.
