Ballard High Principal Keven Wynkoop estimated about 1,000 students attended the walkout, which has now concluded. Our earlier stream-of-event coverage follows below:
Inslee also encouraged students to register to vote. Sen. Reuven Carlyle and Rep. Noel Frame are also in attendance. Passing cars are honking in support.
“Donald Trump may be afraid of the NRA, but I tell you the Ballard Beavers aren’t afraid of the NRA,” said Governor Inslee.
Inslee said he’s the “proud son of a Ballard Beaver.”
“Too many underestimate the power that we as teenagers hold,” says Ally Rice, a Ballard High freshman at the podium. “This time has to be the last time.”
Ballard High School students mark time of silence honoring victims of Florida shooting. #NationalWalkoutDay pic.twitter.com/HwX35vvtw4
— Graham Johnson (@GrahamKIRO7) March 14, 2018
The governor has arrived.
Students are walking out, horns are honking and people are applauding.
Kids are beginning to walk out of their classooms at Ballard High. Car horns honking, adults clapping. pic.twitter.com/2SIAtPAI7r
— Sydney Brownstone (@sydbrownstone) March 14, 2018
Governor Jay Inslee is joining Ballard High students in a walkout at 10 a.m. We’re updating this post with photos from the event.
(Photos from Tom Brew / @thomasbrew)
Governor Inslee joins Ballard High Students in National School Walkout
It’s about the kids.
Going to school is getting more and more dangerous. It would be very good to improve security and control over children, check bags and record people who entered and left the building. I studied at home for a long time and now I don’t want to go to school at all. I do my homework using https://plainmath.net/post-secondary/statistics-and-probability/college-statistics where I always get expert, step-by-step answers, read books in electronic format, and meet friends on neutral territory. I don’t understand why I have to sacrifice my safety and wait for another crazy student to bring a gun to school.
Are these kids really worried about getting killed by a gun? The chances of that are close to zero percent. Theres a lot higher of chance on dying on way to and from school.
The only school shooting to occur at Ballard High wsa gang related back in 1993 or so, and it seems gang related violence is now a “non issue” to the media and politicians, even though the sad emergence of security measures in public high schools was a response to said gang violence, not crazed spree shooters.
Pretty sure most daily shootings occur in the South End. Make of that what you will. Neither Trump nor the NRA is popular there.
Pete, this isn’t about one school or one geographical location. With roughly 7000 kids killed with firearms since Sandy Hook in 2012, this is about sending a message to the GOP administration. The voices of a majority of adults in this country isn’t being heard – hopefully the voices of children will be.
The idea that these kids shouldn’t be scared is naive. A kid was kicked out of Ballard High l a few weeks ago for having a gun in his backpack at school.
Me and My Girlfriend by Tupac Shakur
Shit, you motherfuckin’ right
I’m the bitch that’s keepin’ it live and keepin’ it hot
When you punk ass niggas don’t
Nigga westside, what! Bring it on
Look for me
Lost in the whirlwind, ninety-six, Bonnie and Clyde
Me and my girlfriend, do one-eighty-five when we ride
Trapped in this world of sin, born as a ghetto child
Raised in this whirlwind (c’mon)
Our childhood years recall the tears heart laced with venom
Smokin’ sherm, drinkin’ malt liquor, father forgive her
Me and my girlfriend, hustlin’, fell in love with the struggle
Hands on the steering wheel, blush, while she bail out bustin’
Fuck em all, watch em fall screamin’, automatic gunfire
Exercising all demons
Mafias on the side, my congregation high, ready to die
We bail out to take the jail back, niggas united
Our first date, couldn’t wait to see you naked
Touch you in every secret place, I can hardly wait
To bust freely, got you red hot, you so happy to see me
Make the front-page prime-time live on TV
Nigga my girlfriend, baby forty-five but she still live
One shot make a nigga’s heartbeat stop
What! I’m bustin’ on you punk ass niggaz *automatic gunfire*
Run nigga run! (gunfire) I’m on yo’ ass nigga! *gunfire continues*
Run nigga, duck and hide! Nigga I’m bustin’ all you bitches!
Run nigga, yeah! Westside! Uh uh uh! Die nigga die!
My girlfriend, blacker than the darkest night
When niggaz act bitch-made she got the heart to fight
Nigga my girlfriend, though we separated at times
I knew deep inside, baby girl would always be mine
Picked you up when you was nine, started out my life of crime
Wit you, bought you some shells when you turned twenty-two
It’s true, nothin’ compares to the satisfaction
That I feel when we out mashin’, me and my girlfriend
All I need in this life of sin, is me and my girlfriend
Down to ride to the bloody end, just me and my girlfriend
All I need in this life of sin, is me and my girlfriend
Down to ride to the bloody end, just me and my girlfriend
I was too immature
To understand your ways, inexperienced back in the days
Caused so many arguments and strays
Now I realize how to treat ya, the secret to keep ya
Bein’ faithful now cause now cheatin’s lethal
We closer than the hands of time, deeper than the drop of mankind
I trust you dearly, I shoot blind
In time I clock figures, dropping niggas as we rise
We all soldiers in God’s eyes, now it’s time for war
Never leave me baby, I’m paranoid, sleepin’ witcha
Loaded by my bedside crazy
Jealous when you hang wit the fellas, I wait patiently alone
Anticipated for the moment you come home
I’m waitin’ by the phone this is true love, I can feel it
I’ve had a lot of women in my bed, but you the realest
So if you ever need me call, I’ll be there through it all
You’re the reason I can stand tall, me and my girlfriend
All I need in this life of sin, is me and my girlfriend
Down to ride to the bloody end, just me and my girlfriend
I love finger fuckin’ you, all of a sudden I’m hearin’ thunder
When you bust a nut, niggaz be duckin’ or takin’ numbers
Love to watch you at a block party, beggin’ for drama
While unleashin’ on the old timers, that’s on my mama
I would trade my life for yours, behind closed doors
The only girl that I adore, everything I’m askin’ for
Talkin’ to me beggin’ me to just, take you around
Seventeen like Brandy you just want to Be Down
Talkin’ loud when I tell you be quiet you move the crowd
Bustin’ rounds, activatin’ a riot, that’s why I love you so
No control, down to roll, unleash
After a hit you break apart, then back to one piece
Much love to my one and only girlfriend, the world is ours
Just hold me down, baby witness the power
Never leave a nigga alone, I love you black or chrome
Turn this house into a happy home, me and my girlfriend
All I need in this life of sin, is me and my girlfriend
Down to ride to the bloody end, just me and my girlfriend
All I need in this life of sin, is me and my girlfriend
Down to ride to the bloody end, just me and my girlfriend
All I need in this life of sin, is me and my girlfriend
Down to ride to the bloody end, just me and my girlfriend
Lost in the whirlwind, ninety-six, Bonnie and Clyde
Me and my girlfriend, doin’ eighty-five when we ride
Trapped in this world of sin, born as a ghetto child
Raised in the whirlwind, look for me
Lost in the whirlwind, ninety-six, Bonnie and Clyde
Me and my girlfriend, doin’ eighty-five when we ride
Trapped in this world of sin, born as a ghetto child
Raised in the whirlwind, look for me
Lost in the whirlwind, ninety-six, Bonnie and Clyde
Me and my girlfriend, doin’ eighty-five when we ride
Trapped in this world of sin, born as a ghetto child
Raised in the whirlwind, look for me
Lost in the whirlwind, ninety-six, Bonnie and Clyde
Me and my girlfriend
Lost in the whirlwind, ninety-six, Bonnie and Clyde
Me and my girlfriend
Me and my girlfriend!
Good on those kiddos!
Shooting Guns by 50 Cent
Got my guns and magazines
Ending up in front of me
Nothing is quite as it seems
Fuck with me and you will see
[Bridge]
Shoot your gun now make you a believer
Now you better pray for something more
[Verse 1 – 50 Cent]
I go to war to my heart stop, niggas ain’t listening
Get the thumping and the dumping at your newborn’s christening
Tell your homie, tell his homies, he ‘gon need more homies
Ain’t this a bitch I got the extended clip right on me
And my diamonds on my neck, I dare a nigga to scheme on it
The ruger on deck, it’s hard to miss with the beam on it
I’ll give your ass a permanent nap– sing you a lullabye
I got money to run, so fuck an alibi
[Bridge]
Shoot your gun now make you a believer
Now you better pray for something more
Many if not most of the schools that have experienced the “single shooter” type violence were in nice, safe neighborhoods where no one worries much about day-to-day gunfire or any sort of attack. While the statistical likelihood of being shot in one of these incidents is small for any individual, the horror of it looms large in our culture. These kids are right to demand an answer to this problem.
“While the statistical likelihood of being shot in one of these incidents is small for any individual, the horror of it looms large in our culture.”
This could also be read as, people are viewing this emotionally instead of logically/rationally.
Believing you have a voice, demanding to be heard, working to make change and standing up for your beliefs is the message I am hearing.
The horror looms large because of the medias portrayal of each shooting.
Get My Gun by Eminem
A mass murderer pack burners to blast further then you can get
My shit be shooting threw bricks
I mix anything togetha, I done guillotine a nigga
Keep it heated, I pop clips with 17 or betta
I?ll be severin’ heads, I?m in everyones nightmare
A nigga that can never ever be scared of the feds
And the niggas that’ll fuck with you
Stab and brass knuckle you
Then have you in the public, theres nothing that you can do
Enough with you’re motherfucking tough talk, you’re soft
Get you’re balls blew off, from a sawdof , Fa’ raw dawg?
Crazier then all yall , what you like the navy when I?m angry
You’ll never catch me hanging in a lops car
All I have is thought of, breathing evil
Desert Eagle’s will eat threw people
When I see you I?mma heat you’re beef slow
Fuck being peaceful, the piece in the vehicle and. .
This isn’t about safety or guns anymore. Kids are just sick and tired of being collateral damage for corporate lobbyists and bought and sold politicians. It is pathetic to see the NRA dupes rattling off their dusty statistics. And it is pathetic to see the accuracy trolls wagging their fingers and crowing about the danger of driving in cars. Kids today are savvy enough to know all that nonsense. This is about the idiotic way that political power is wielded in this country – about how a pointless hot button issue can buy and sell politicians and if a few kids die in a country awash in guns for no particular reason – that’s OK. It’s worth it because……..freedom. Except it isn’t really freedom…is it?
Pete, don’t be an asshole.
“Believing you have a voice, demanding to be heard, working to make change and standing up for your beliefs is the message I am hearing.”
Oh that’s cute
@NewWorld
I think the issue for many of us on the right is the fact that Hollywood/Record Industry refuses to own up to their role in glorifying violence and gun play. I’m pretty sure the playlists on many of these students’ laptops contain hyper violent songs etc, and they play Halo, GTA etc or watch the usual Hollywood “bang bang boom” garbage movies. Are these kids going to become pacifists and disavow these hurtful products as well as pushing for a firearms ban? I think we know the answer to that.
We can talk about guns but we are really, sadly, witnessing is the breakdown of families and millions and millions of young men suffering from lack of fathers. Democrats don’t want to talk about the destruction of the family because they subsidized it and chiseled at its foundations for decades. No, I’m not defending Republicans. But let’s be honest about home life for kids these days, especially those that aren’t living in affluent Seattle neighborhoods. Maybe the NRA is a “gun pusher” but the Democrats are “crime pusher” for lack of a better term.
If we’re really having a “historic moment” maybe we can look at the mental ecosystem that everyone is immersed in. Gun ownership is now being framed as a “white supremacist” act, but nonwhite people are awash in guns, too – NRA or not. Guns are mostly illegal in Mexico. Tell me about the gun crime there. I do agree we need a much better system, including a mandatory certification/license system for owners, but this idea that guns are going to disappear is simply not realistic.
Inslee – Not My Governor! :)
Good to see the students exercising the right to assemble, demonstrate and free speech. Many of them will be voting in 2020.
@High Caliber – I’m a liberal/progressive and I’ve been saying the same for years. Remember, Tipper Gore was the one who insisted on the rating system for video games, similar to what exists for movies. However, that doesn’t stop parents from allowing their kids to play & watch. I was arguing with a friend just yesterday about this. “I played these as a kid and I’m not violent!” Well, it affects people in different ways. I watch a lot of cop shows on TV and I’m no killer or criminal. But I do believe it plants the seeds for something bigger and more dangerous.
@Common Sense – sometimes emotional reactions are necessary. Emotions can be a powerful force, either for good or bad. In this case, the emotions expressed by the students of Parkland is visceral. And it’s contagious. Their emotions could bring about lasting change that “logic” has denied for years.
Guns don’t kill people…people kill people…
Address mental health issues, address culture, address environment. Stop with the emotional aspect, we need to concentrate on and deal with the facts regarding with what factors cause this violence.
Our youth needs to grow up as kids…soon they will need to deal with life’s problems, it will be interesting to see if they can do a better job dealing with life than my generation.
The message some mentally deranged lunatics are pushing is: while we are the only first world country that school shootings happen on a regular basis, let alone at all, because the odds are small of it happening to a particular student, they shouldn’t be worried? Proof that just because you have first amendment rights, doesn’t mean you aren’t making a complete idiot of yourself.
Yes, “TRUTH” they should be worried.. All of the time.. Day and night they should be thinking about it.. They would be deranged lunatics not to be..
I was there to support these wonderful kids yesterday as they spoke up & spoke out, they are our future. The energy was positive & hopeful because the kids are positive & hopeful.
Changes need to happen & from some of the responses I’m reading here the biggest change should start with the ill informed negative adults criticising the kids.
I didn’t have to attend as I was able to follow with just their constant updates to facebook/instagram/etc.
It’s almost as if it was more about self-aggrandizing…gasp…than anything else.
Most of the mass shootings are committed by white males.
So if you got white males in your school you better watch out.
To me the issue is deeper than just guns. What will be done to recognize a student in need? Supposedly the Parkland shooter was on everyone’s radar as a threat yet nothing happened. Where is the focus on helping before it escalates to a suicide or a shooting. I think school administrators need to look within for the answer to prevention. If someone is intent in doing harm, they will. A knife, a pressure cooker, or a rental truck, doesn’t matter – let’s help them before it gets that far. If I was a student at BHS, I’d be more afraid to stand at the bus stop on the west side of 15th. If a car can bounce off of the Crossfit building… Since it hasn’t happened, no one is concerned. Personally, I’d protesting to make it a priority to put some type of barrier there.
You know what makes sh*tty kids?
Sh*tty parent(s).
I thought 20 yrs. ago they put in security measures like the king county courthouse to detect metal weapons?? That said, as long as you have bullying in schools, by teachers as well as students you will see violence directed at schools
Oh look, it’s another preachy kids crusade by the same people who brought MS-13 into the country and blame taxpayers for ghetto violence. How surprising.
It would be nice if everything was fine and peaceful
It’s great when students try to defend their rights. I support this position, the main thing is that it does not affect the quality of the educational process. I often have problems with this. Especially with writing a ghost writer scientific paper. Therefore, I decided to ask for help from experts and I think that this was the right decision.