Student-Led Walkout at Lyme-Old Lyme HS Demands Action on Gun Violence Prevention

OLD LYME–On Friday Sept. 5, Students Demand Action groups, a grassroots arm of Everytown for Gun Safety, hosted coordinated school walkouts across the country to demand lawmakers at the state and federal level pass a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

Margaret Thuma, a senior at Lyme-Old Lyme High School (LOLHS), joined this nationwide effort by leading a walkout from the school at 10 a.m. on Friday.

She explained to LymeLine in an email why she was taking this action, saying, “I feel very strongly about this cause and made the decision to plan a walkout at my high school.”

Thuma added, “I plan to use this walkout to help give a voice to the many students, who feel there should be an end to gun violence. I am working to spread this message to as many people as I can.”

Asked how long she expects the walk-out to last, Thuma replied that she anticipated it would be a maximum of half an hour, “but it will probably be less than that.”

Noting that both the LOLHS Principal James Wygonik and LOL Schools Superintendent Ian Neviaser are aware of the planned walk-out, Thuma said that Wygonik, “Will be putting out a speaker and mic for me to address everyone.” and that she had, “Prepared things to say.” 

A press release issued by the national Students Demand Action group quotes Timberlyn Mazeikis, a gun violence survivor from the school shooting at Michigan State University in 2023 and Students Demand Action volunteer from Minnesota, saying, “Gun violence is a national crisis and that’s why we’ll be walking out of school to demand our lawmakers pass an assault weapons ban.”

Mazeikis adds, “Until we get these weapons of war off our streets, gun violence will continue to wreak havoc in our schools, homes, and communities.” 

The press release states, “The national school walkouts come in response to the horrific school shooting at Annunciation Church School in Minneapolis last Wednesday {Aug. 27], where two children were killed and 21 more were wounded on their first week back to school.

Editor’s Note: i) ‘Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund’ (“Everytown for Gun Safety”) is the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country with 11 million supporters and more than 700,000 donors … fighting for common-sense gun safety measures that can help save lives. For more information, visit www.everytown.org and/or follow @Everytown.
ii) ‘Students Demand Action’ is the largest grassroots, youth-led gun violence prevention group in the country with more than 800 groups and active volunteers in every state and the District of Columbia. The movement, created by and for teens and young adults, aims to channel the energy and passion of high school- and college-aged students into the fight against gun violence. For more information or to get involved, visit www.studentsdemandaction.org.