High School Democrats of America Releases Statement on Covenant School Shooting
The following statement was published by High School Democrats of America following the shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, TN, which killed staff members Katherine Koonce, Mike Hill, and Cynthia Peak and students Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney.
On March 27th, a former student opened fire on The Covenant School, an elementary school in Tennessee. And once again, we are found mourning. We mourn the loss of 6 innocent lives, 3 of whom were children. We mourn, for the safety of our futures at school. When the one place that should be established as a safe haven for us becomes the target of unforgivable violence, we are once again forced to ask ourselves the same question. Is this America the only America?
While most of the dialogue surrounding the shooting yesterday has been around the fact that the shooter is a transgender person, that should be the last factor to be discussed, and one that we do not appreciate as being the forefront of this incident. In a discussion about a school shooting, the only discourse we should be focusing on is that of preventing further violence, and not deluding transgender people or their identities.
Photo via: Johnnie Izquierdo/ The Washington Post/Getty Images
Time and time again, we are met with the exact same response, of no tangible action. When the violence of unrestricted gun policy in this nation has continued to be the forefront of protests for decades, there is no better time for congress to listen to us than now. Listen to our protests, listen to the students of this nation. Don't allow for your children to continue begging and questioning the validity of this nation and its policies.
Statement via Sohali Vaddula, HSDA Communications Director, and Mizuki Yashiro, HSDA Social Media Director.
NOTE: The Progressive Teen is an affiliate of High School Democrats of America. Nonetheless, the stances of TPT’s Editorial Board are independent of HSDA. TPT does not publish its own official stances on current events.