By Howard Packowitz and Greg Halbleib
BLOOMINGTON – A teenager leading a local demonstration to end school shootings in America said kids are frightened after the latest rash of gun violence, including mass killings at a school in Sante Fe, Texas and a near-tragedy at Dixon High School.
Gavin Cunningham is one of the Normal West High School students organizing a March for Safer Schools, set to begin at 6 p.m. Friday at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts.
The rally comes at a time when there’s so much anxiety about school safety that Unit 5 Superintendent Mark Daniel said publicly that the current school year can’t end soon enough.
Cunningham, who’s completing his sophomore year at Normal West, said students are a potent-enough political force to demand legislative action.
“Although we are not old enough to vote yet, this is momentum that we can bring for older people seeing that younger people are interested,” Cunningham told WJBC’s Sam Wood.
“Going into the midterms in November and even two years down the road, when I can vote, it’s great to see younger people being involved,” Cunningham also said.
Friday night’s event at BCPA will include speeches by high school and college students, a teacher, and a representative from the group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]
