{"id":8710,"date":"2012-02-15T22:59:08","date_gmt":"2012-02-16T06:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.57.196.122\/~gdatwofo\/theavtimes\/?p=8710"},"modified":"2012-07-01T14:13:08","modified_gmt":"2012-07-01T21:13:08","slug":"students-take-a-stand-against-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2012\/02\/15\/students-take-a-stand-against-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"Students take a stand against violence"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Students in the "Save the Drama" Violence Prevention Club organized an anti-violence ceremony at Pete Knight High School Wednesday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PALMDALE \u2013 The weather was bad, forcing the ceremony indoors and the crowd was sparse because many students thought they were too cool to take part; still the show went on for those students who chose to take a stand Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n

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Gail Knight called the event incredible, wonderful and positive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Each student in the small group bravely took the microphone and recited a personal call to action to end violence and abuse in the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether abuse is intentional or an act of the subconscious, it is wrong and should not be justified,\u201d junior Wafiqah Shar told the audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is taking place everywhere we turn and our time is right now to make it all stop,\u201d said senior Justin Spencer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope to raise awareness in both the community and schools, and call for people to act against abuse and contribute to a more peaceful environment,\u201d said junior Amber Polson.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that if we come together as a school and community, we can make a difference in this world,\u201d said freshman Stephen Morales. \u201cSo make a promise to yourself today, right now, and save the drama!\u201d<\/p>\n

Titled \u201cA Moment to Remember,\u201d the ceremony was organized by the \u2018Save the Drama\u2019 Violence Prevention Club, an organization formed by Pete Knight High School students to help prevent bullying and violence on campus and in the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really just want to get the word out about violence and abuse and why there is no need for it,\u201d said club president Larren McGee. \u201cIf there is a fight going on, we split up the fight and say \u2018save the drama!\u2019 there is no need for it. Everybody should get along.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Members of the LA Slam shared stories with students on how they overcame violence.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

McGee said the club was formed in February of 2011 and has faced some challenges along the way, mainly lack of membership.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs of right now people think they are too cool to be in the club, so we just deal with it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Students in the club received some tall words of encouragement Wednesday. Several members of Antelope Valley\u2019s professional basketball team, the Los Angeles Slam, attended the ceremony and shared with the students personal stories of how they rose above gangs, violence and crime in their communities growing up.<\/p>\n

Coach Don Sanchez talked of being bullied so bad he stopped going to school for several months and was forced to repeat the seventh grade.<\/p>\n

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Students released red and white ballons in honor of those affected by violence and abuse.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s something that holds dear to me, I never told anyone that story before,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cI hate to see other people go through that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local rap group, West Republic, and Gail Knight, widow of the school\u2019s namesake, William J. \u201cPete\u201d Knight, also attended the ceremony. Knight commended the students for their courage in taking a stand against violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s incredible, it\u2019s wonderful, it\u2019s all positive,\u201d Knight said.<\/p>\n

Students ended their ceremony by releasing red and white balloons into the air to remember victims and survivors of abuse and violence.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PALMDALE \u2013 The weather was bad, forcing the ceremony indoors and the crowd was sparse because many students thought they were too cool to take part; still the show went on for those students who chose to take a stand Wednesday evening. Each student in the small group bravely took the microphone and recited a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8710"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}