Photo courtesy of senior Talia Doane.

The following speech was given by senior Sofi Shaw during a lunchtime rally today at San Luis Obispo High School. Shaw appeared alongside multiple speakers. The rally, sponsored by SLOHS ASB provided additional information on how to contact lawmakers, and there was a reading of the names of the students and teachers killed in a school shooting Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday.

Fellow SLOHS students,

We’ve had to be terrified of gun violence since the time we entered consciousness. In 2012, when I was in 3rd grade, 20 children my age were shot and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School. I couldn’t even fully grasp the concept of death, let alone what it would mean to die at the hands of a gunman. What I could process was the pain I saw on adults’ faces. Collective grief – mourning people who had barely lived.  

  Then, six years and so many mass shootings later, the Stoneman Douglas High School massacre happened. I attended my school’s walkout, which is now a recurring experience. At that walkout, upsettingly and unsurprisingly, a few kids brought their “Make America Great Again” flag. Like a majority of the other students in attendance, I was appalled. How could you come to an event meant to honor lives that were lost and try to make a meaningless political statement? I can’t imagine a great country where children are found dead in their classrooms. 

  What is potentially the most upsetting part about these senseless murders is the fact that we know what works to prevent them. We see it in New Zealand. After a horrific mass shooting in 2019, it took New Zealand’s government not even a week to ban civilian ownership of semi-automatic rifles and other military-grade weapons. We have seen how easy and effective it can be to enact change, so why does the U.S. government continue to sit idle as people are killed? 

  Now, we are expected to protect ourselves. We sit in dark corners of rooms, huddled together, hoping to not make a sound. We are expected to fight if we ever encounter a shooter face to face: to throw books meant for learning and attack with hands and arms that are supposed to be used for accepting our diplomas and hugging our friends. We fear for our lives any time the fire alarm is pulled or a chip bag is popped. We are expected to be traumatized because some old white men can’t seem to compromise. 

  While it seems dystopian to ask children to take action, we have to, because the “adults” in Washington D.C. can’t seem to.  For seniors who are 18, you have the chance to vote before June 7th. By mailing in your ballot or going to the polls, you can elect officials who will properly represent us in Congress. If you’re 16 you can pre-register to vote at registertovote.ca.gov. To those of you who are not 16 yet, keep coming to events such as these. Make your voice heard. We need to do anything possible to protect each other and our fellow students across the country because we all deserve to live the rest of our lives without fear of being shot on a random Tuesday. 

Thank you.