Students, parents and members of the Homewood-Flossmoor High School community are coming together to organize a second walkout after a few hundred students walked out of the high school Wednesday morning to speak out against alleged sexual assault and harassment between students.
At about 9 a.m. Wednesday, students at Homewood-Flossmoor left the school building and walked around the school’s campus chanting until about 3 p.m.
LaShawn Littrice, who has a doctorate in community psychology and is the parent of a sophomore, said she is helping students organize a walkout on Thursday, the last day before the school’s spring break. She said she’d like for there to be a proper platform for the students to speak from and for the walkout to be streamlined.
She said the reason the walkout happened now, according to a student who she spoke to, was because “they are fed up” with how the school is handling allegations of sexual assault and harassment, and students wanted to take matters into their own hands.
“The school has to be a little more accountable,” Littrice said. “They can still remain confidential, but they have to take into consideration that people have been affected by this. There have to be some measures put in place for when voices need to be heard in schools.”
James Mitchem Jr., interim principal at the high school, said in a statement administration and student support staff were present outside the school during Wednesday’s walkout to ensure everyone’s safety.
“The school’s administrative team has been made aware of the allegations behind the walkout and is investigating and will be taking all steps necessary to ensure student safety and accountability,” the statement said. “These are some of the most difficult situations to process at a school and due to privacy laws and legal restrictions, we are limited in what we can share with students, families and the community.”
Mitchem said while the walkout provided a “vehicle for students to share general concerns,” the school is asking students who have been directly affected by sexual assault or harassment to report incidents to a trusted adult, parent, staff member or law enforcement officer.
Aja Moore, a resident of Homewood and parent of triplets who are juniors at the high school, said one of the three participated in the walkout.
Moore said her understanding, based on conversations with her children and other parents, is a student “had an issue keeping his hands to himself.” Moore said as far as she knows, the allegations are all from before the student’s start at the high school.
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“From what my kids know, there have not been any new allegations while he was a student at HF,” Moore said.
She said she felt the school’s hands are tied because the allegations are from before the student was enrolled in the high school, but said the walkout was “what the kids needed in order for them to feel heard.”
She said several staff members supported the students during the walkout and have listened to their concerns.
“I think that made my kids feel a little bit better knowing that they were listening and their voices are being heard,” Moore said.
Moore’s son who participated in the walkout, Kameron Moore, said he didn’t know much about what was going on until two days before the walkout when he heard about the allegations and decided to support his peers who were going to protest.
“I don’t know who it was or if the allegations are actually true, but I just thought that if it was true, I should be out there,” Kameron Moore said.