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MESSENGER
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VOLUME XXVII, ISSUE II | MO 63017 | MARQUETTEMESSENGER.COM | OCTOBER 2019
Two A school years later
S A SOPHOMORE, SOPHIE Hultberg, senior, participated in the Students Demand Action walkout followed by the protest outside former Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley’s office April 20, 2018. As one of the younger people there at that time, she said she felt empowered and inspired by all the speeches, poetry and presence of passionate upperclassmen all fighting for the same cause. She said the unity was a beautiful experience. However, as her little sister began high school this year and the number of local threats has grown, she said she feels more scared at school this year than her sophomore year when the gun control movement gained momentum following Parkland. “Back when I was a sophomore, I was into gun control, but I felt 10 times safer at school,” Hultberg said. “I didn’t hear about threats or other
high schools going into mayhem. It was really spread across the country, nowhere really local. I feel more uncomfortable going to school now than I did sophomore year.” Hultberg said this fear lead her and her sister to stay home from school Sept. 16 in response to a social media threat at MHS made by a juvenile later determined to be out of state. “It’s hard when your parents have to be the ones to tell you that it’s unsafe to go to school while the school’s still saying come here everything is fine,” Hultberg said. Hultberg said with the fear and contemplation comes a lack of focus. But she couldn’t afford to miss more school. “It’s so difficult having the anxiety that that can happen to you going to school but also knowing you can’t do your schoolwork unless you go, and if you don’t go, you’re not going
to do well when it comes down to academics,” Hultberg said. “It’s stuck in the middle: good education or anxiety free?” Hultberg said two years later the need for action and change persists, but she has hope. “I feel like we really are fighting,” Hultberg said. “While there’s not much we can do about it in the moment, there’s a lot we can do in the long run and I think activism is a huge part of it.” Hultberg isn’t alone in her concerns. Administrators have begun re-evaluating safety procedures and the West County chapter of Moms Demand Action meets to advocate for change.
See pg. 8-9