Albuquerque elementary school students protest following Uvalde shooting
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A pair of Albuquerque elementary school students were not in class for their last day as third graders. It was a family decision.
“They were afraid, and I wasn’t going to force them to go back,” said Lisa Van Dyke Brown, their mom.
Seamus and Pearl Brown are missing the last two days of the school year because that’s how many the kids in Uvalde missed.
“We just decided to protest and we wanted to make sure schools are safer and make the gun laws higher so everyone can be safe,” Pearl said.
Seamus and Pearl wrote letters to President Joe Biden, with drawings. They are also planning to sell their own items in a garage sale to raise money for the Uvalde families.
A pair of Albuquerque elementary school students were not in class for their last day as third graders. It was a family decision.
Their teachers were more than understanding about their decision.
One even wrote to them, “I’m proud of Seamus and Pearl for taking a stand and respect their decision.”
Their mom knows some may accuse her of using her kids to make a political statement – but she said it’s not about politics, it’s about teaching.
“If your kids are afraid to go to school, you’re not going to force them to go to school, so we’re going to learn about what’s going on,” she said. “They want to know what can be done to change it. Speak up! I don’t care how little you are, speak up!”
Lisa said she thinks her children are learning a valuable lesson about the power of change and how they can be a part of it.