On Saturday March 24, a group of Hartsbrook High School students participated in the March for Our Lives that took place in Northampton. During the march we interviewed a range of individuals and asked questions regarding their thoughts on s chool shootings and their motivation for marching that day. We asked them,“Why are you marching?” and, “Why now?” Here are some of the responses we received: “…Enough is enough and I wanna show solidarity with our high school students.” “…I remember Columbine, how shocking it was to our society and now these kind of things aren’t shocking anymore…” “…As a student, I feel that gun reform is necessary, I can relate to wanting to feel safe. You’d be surprised at the amount of young people that are passionate and involved and want to make a difference… the persistence that they have is especially prevalent. The young people are not just the leaders of tomorrow but the leaders of today.” “… this idea that people have of teenagers is not accurate. We have to show [people] that young people are intelligent and experienced and know what they are doing. This event today, it’s happening because of students…no young person should ever doubt the impact that they can have…” Memorable quotes from signs that were at the march: “Arms are for hugging”. “Thoughts and prayers are not bulletproof”. “The number of bullet holes in this sign are the number of bullets that can be shot in the time it takes to read this”. “Give teachers art-tillery not artillery”. A collection of our own thoughts and reflections on the march: “…It was really inspiring to know that other people have the same thoughts, the same goals in mind but that they think about it in different ways… everyone had a reason to be there… all the people that we interviewed talked about the role that social media plays influencing changes in our culture… I loved how much support the adults gave us… It was inspiring to hear about the potential that young people have for change and also it was encouraging to hear adults say that we students are the future…” Contributors: Alena (12th grade), Leela, Kara, Jana (10th grade) Laila, Meadow (9th grade)