Statement of Support: Student Activism around Gun Violence
Statement of Support
Student Activism around Gun Violence
Students throughout the United States, led nationally by students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, are demanding that action be taken to protect school students from gun violence.
We the undersigned -- Friends Council on Education and Heads of Friends (Quaker) schools from across the country -- support these kinds of student-initiated acts of civic engagement with current issues. We unite with others who reach out in support of the students from Stoneman Douglas High School who are seeking to make their schools places of peace and safety; places where freedom from gun violence is a given, and where their focus can be upon their work as learners.
Quaker schools offer educational programs that encourage the creation of connected communities in a climate of equality and respect for all. Included in a Friends school’s mission is the deeply held belief that all people have equal worth and all human life is sacred. These principles require that all of us listen for the truth in the words of others in our community, regardless of age or status.
Quaker schools actively promote the non-violent resolution of conflict and reaching out to those in need in order to eliminate the root causes of war and injustice. One of the strengths of Friends school communities is creating healthy and safe places to learn, to be known, and to be connected with adults and peers who will encourage positive growth.
We believe that a prerequisite for the ability of our students to exercise their imaginations and intellects requires safety -- physical safety to provide a consistent and welcoming learning space, and emotional safety to allow students to share of themselves and their opinions without fear of reprisal, retribution, or ridicule. It seems to us that the prerequisite goal of simple safety should be shared by every school of every kind throughout the United States.
The students in Parkland, Florida are sending us a powerful message about the truth that they live each day: they do not feel safe in their schools so long as gun violence remains a daily threat.
We call on public officials to heed the call of students across the country and take action to address the multi-layered problem of gun violence. We urge our country’s leaders to listen deeply and carefully to our young people. We believe what they ask for is rightly ordered and essential – to keep them safe from the fear of, and potential for, gun violence so they can live into their roles as leaders of our future.
Rich Nourie Kavita Hardy Sadie Kneidel Larry Weiss Russel J. MacMullan Chris Gorycki Karen Cumberbatch Janet Himel Karen Carney Kirk Smothers Sharon Fichthorn Kathryn Park Cook Andrea Kelly Allyx Schiavone Larry Clements Drew Smith Deborra Sines Pancoe Elisabeth Torg April Diop Mara Y. Nicastro Madeleine Berresford Michael Zimmerman Matthew H. Bradley Waman French Matt Micciche Anna Dallam Joe McHugh Jenny Rowe Brenda Esch Michael Gary Robert (Bo) Lauder Jeff Harwell Craig N. Sellers J. Samuel Houser Dana Weeks Mimi Ackers Edward Marshall Andrew K. Smith | Daena Berdougo Matthew D. Sharp Darrell Cotton John McKinstry Suzanne Fogarty Deni-lyn Lane Debbie Zlotowitz W. Earl Sissell Sue Gabrielson Laurence Van Meter Matt Glendinning Kim Freedman Dana H. Harrison Evelyn Cole Chad Cianfrani Micah Brownstein Cynthia A. Walker Sarah Sweeney-Denham Jane Fremon Alex Brosowsky Adrian Moody Marcie Roberts Mike Hanas Thomas Gibian Thomas Weber Berna Artis Bryan Garman Dan Hendey Jill Dougherty Whitney Thompson Nancy Donnelly Brian Fahey Eve Nealy Jon R. Hall Tori Jueds Pam Chambers Darryl J. Ford Ken Aldridge |
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