Since Wednesday, Woodside High School teachers and staff have been rallying outside the school entrance demanding nationwide gun control after the devastating elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday, May 24.
Only nine days prior to the shooting in Uvalde, Woodside held a school-wide moment of silence to honor and respect those who lost their lives in the supermarket shooting in Buffalo, New York.
This year alone, there have been a total of 27 school shootings and over 200 mass shootings nationwide, resulting in hundreds of innocent deaths. Although not all of these shootings have taken place in California or are extremely close to Woodside High school itself, action is being taken.
Math teacher Hernan Cuevas is one of the teachers on campus who took part in the rally before school, in front of the main entrance on Thursday, May 27.
“We are doing this to show support towards what happened [in Texas] and put it in people’s minds that [gun control] is a huge issue,” Cuevas said. “This is something that can directly affect [students] here, just as easily as it happened in Texas; it can happen anywhere.”
Alongside school shootings, the lack of baby formula in the United States also raises nationwide concerns. The current baby formula dilemma only amplifies the current discrepancies and major areas of concern in the nation.
“I’ve seen things online saying it’s easier to get a gun than it is to get baby formula which is ridiculous in this country,” Cuevas said. “How is it that mothers are struggling to get food for their babies but anyone can walk into a store and kill people?”
The elementary shooting in Texas has prompted more and more unheard voices to speak up including local Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr who gave an inspirational and shattering speech the day of the shooting. After a fun, exhilarating basketball game taking place in the Western Conference final, Kerr refused to talk about basketball and instead, said, “I am sorry, I am tired of the moments of silence. Enough!” This line along with others prompted a heavy response from others who were inspired and have decided to take action.
“I commend him for using his platform to raise more awareness because he made a ton of really good points,” Cuevas said.“You can have as many minutes of silence as you want or do it any number of times, but it’s not going to make real change.”
Gun control is a serious issue that has risen to the forefront of concern, and will continue to be a battle for schools across America until certain laws are set in place.
“The issue of gun control and how easy it is to get a gun is ridiculous,” Cuevas said. “It has to change.”
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