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Norfolk elementary school students march to end gun violence

Posted at 2:51 PM, Jun 13, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-13 18:28:16-04

NORFOLK, Va. - A march is empowering students to stay safe over the summer.

About 100 elementary school students from Tidewater Park took to the streets Thursday morning. It was an organized Stop the Violence march, coming on the heels of a series of tragic shootings over the past month.

"Our boys and girls are smart and special to us, and we want them to return after the summer," said Tidewater Park Principal Sharon Phillips.

Students marched down Brambleton Avenue letting their voices be heard, shouting, "Stop the violence; let's be safe!"

Phillips says the recent shootings are senseless, and many of these kids lived closed to Jaydon Davis and David Godfrey that were killed recently near the school.

"We don't want it to happen anymore. We are sick of it, and we need our students to understand the importance of not being violent and to resolve matters by talking and not fighting," Phillips said.

Related: Community groups ask for leaders to take a stance on gun violence

Holding handmade banners, the youngest minds said they are aware of the shootings where they like to play outside and said it scares them.

"Too many people are getting killed, and we want our community to stay better and healthy with each other and we need to work things out," said 4th grader Zaemarion Freeman.

"No one wants guns. They shoot and kill and cause a murder," said 4th grader Jaydon Gilliam.

Teachers stress that community support and supervision is a must as students are soon let out for the summer.

"We need parents' support. They need to sit on the front porch, sit on the back porch and watch the children play this summer. They do not need to be roaming the streets," said Phillips.