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Newport News students write letters to state delegate to call for action on school safety

Posted at 12:59 PM, May 16, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-16 18:17:21-04

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - An anonymous letter from a student at Woodside High School to Del. Mike Mullin doesn't hold back.

"I feel as a student here at Woodside High School we need more security to prevent anything from happening. Our lives are depending on it," the letter reads.

More than 130 students from Ms. Costello's government classes at the school wrote to Mullin following the school shooting earlier this year in Florida. Mullin and Del. Marcia Price toured the school and met with students on Wednesday morning.

"Reading [the letters], I could tell how lost some of students were feeling, how scared they were and how they didn't know what was being done to keep them safe," Mullin said.

Mullin is part of a bipartisan committee of lawmakers working to address school safety. In addition, Price is part of a Democratic group talking about gun violence.

"We are living in a new world with social media and with 'round-the-clock news. Something that might happen down in Florida is news up here in Virginia at the moment it happens," Mullin said. "That creates a level of fear in some students that needs to be addressed."

Through their meetings with the students, Mullin and Price say they already have some ideas to bring back to Richmond, like more funding for school counselors. "The students don't hold back," Price said. "They're very engaged on their surroundings and what is going on. It's now up to the adults to listen and do something about it."