Editor’s note: These commentaries are by Middlebury Union Middle School students ninth-grader Chloe Clark and seventh-graders Arianna Graham-Gurland and Narges Anzali. All three were organizers of the student walkout at their school on March 14 and testified before the Legislature’s joint Education Committee last week. These essays are based on their testimony.
Chloe Clark: ‘This is our lives we’re talking about’
[I] am Chloe Clark, a 14-year-old who goes to Middlebury Union High School. And last Wednesday, the 21st, I was part of a group of seven girls who went up to the Statehouse to testify in front of the Vermont Education Committee about school safety.
This was my statement:
“I participated in the walkouts on Wednesday and Monday for two reasons: I strongly believe that the only way people can effectively make change is through speaking out, others listening to them and then spreading their message. So, in participating in these events, I wanted to say that I hear the voices of the friends and family of those lost in Parkland. I wanted to let the world know that I support them, and would share their message. And that’s the second reason: I wanted to speak out against gun violence in school. Don’t get me wrong. I understand the Second Amendment, and I think that if you want to own a gun, that’s fine. Same with hunting. I think hunting is a great sport! But no one needs an AR-15, or any type of assault weapon for that matter. Outlawing these types of guns for civilian use is not only important, but necessary. As are background checks. I strongly believe that one of the main causes of this epidemic is that anyone, no matter their history, can so easily buy a gun.
“Because this isn’t a game. It’s not even just “an important issue.” This is our lives we’re talking about. Children’s lives. So if kids are being shot so often, there’s something seriously wrong with our country. And a change needs to come. So please, I ask you, consider our thoughts and requests. Do not let this happen again.”
Since then, progress has been made towards passing S.55, a bill that would put many restrictions on the purchase of guns, but our task is not over. We cannot drop this fight now. I think everyone in America is scared — about everything, really. And you can’t shut that fear out, but you can use it. The thing is, how you use it is up to you. Although it is so easy to let fear and anger grow into ignorance and hatred, we cannot let that happen. So I urge everyone, if you care about this issue, if you care about the children of Vermont, to take whatever anger and fears you may have and put it to a good cause. Listen to others, try to understand others, respect others, love others. Please.
Arianna Graham-Gurland & Narges Anzali: ‘We don’t want to be the next statistic’
[W]e are seventh-graders at Middlebury Union Middle School. Our names are Narges Anzali and Arianna Graham-Gurland, and we don’t want to be the next statistic. We believe in gun reform because even though people have the right to have guns, we also have the right to live to old age. We often lie awake and imagine the all too familiar scene of a school shooting happening at our school. The sobs, the screams, the frantic phone calls and texts, trying to find your friends and hoping that they are still alive.
On Tuesday, we had a “secure the building” drill at school. In the moment that they announced the drill, our hearts fell. We both looked around for our friends, grabbed their hands, and held tight as we rushed to the corner of the room. Even though we knew it was a drill, it still scared us. Because what if there is a day where it isn’t a drill? What if there is a day where you hear the rapid gunfire of a semi-automatic rifle rattling through the halls? What if one day the thoughts and prayers are directed towards us?
These are the reasons why we support gun reform. We both have beautiful siblings. We don’t want to have to worry about them when we see them off in the morning. We don’t want to always have to worry about whether we said we loved them before we left for school, because what if we don’t come back, or they don’t come back from school today? This is why we support gun reform.
We understand that many people in Vermont enjoy hunting and also want to protect their families, and we do respect that. We are not saying that we should ban all guns to the public. Hunting rifles for sport are fine. But you should not let anyone own a gun that can take 17 lives in six minutes. That is not OK. That is not just using something for sport. That is the ability to commit a mass murder in a matter of minutes, and it is happening more and more often.
We want more background checks. We want a longer waiting period to buy a gun. More background checks will not hurt anyone. We recognize that it will not stop all mass shooters, but at least it will put another barrier between a person with the intent to shoot up a school and a gun. It could also decrease the number of suicides and domestic violence deaths due to guns.
We want to stop worrying about living to see 30. The reason we are standing up for this is because we haven’t seen adults take action half as soon as we’ve wanted them to. We are your kids and the next generation. We don’t want politicians’ condolences as they accept checks from the NRA. We want to raise our voices for what we believe in, and we want our community to do it with us. We would like to thank all the Vermont representatives who have listened to our voices and helped pass a gun reform bill. We need our leaders in the Vermont Senate, Gov. Scott, and Congress in Washington to also listen to our voices and make more gun reform possible. We would also like to thank all the people who are reading this for listening to our voices and being willing to expand your views.
