This teen used her graduation cap—and an ingenious computer code—to send a critical message about gun violence
Graduation season is upon us, which means that students all over the country are getting ready to don their caps and gowns as they celebrate the culmination of all their hard work. Many students use their graduation caps to express themselves, and some even take the opportunity to advocate for a cause. One high school senior in Ohio decided to use her cap to send an important message about gun violence and school shootings.
According to BuzzFeed News, Gina Warren, an 18-year-old from Ashville, Ohio, turned her cap into a QR code that leads people to a list of school shooting victims. Her compilation of names started with the Columbine High School shooting in 1999 and included the STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting on May 7th.
"I graduated," a message above the list read. "These high school students couldn't."
At the bottom of the screen, Warren implored readers, “Protect our students. Vote.” She included links to Everytown for Gun Safety and March For Our Lives.
On Twitter, she demonstrated how it works with a video.
i decorated my graduation cap pic.twitter.com/FBzQ8BTIxo
— Gina (@Gi10eight) May 9, 2019
As of May 14th, her video has been retweeted more than 91,000 times and has received more than 321,000 likes. Many users applauded her creative statement.
https://twitter.com/udfredirect/status/1126612837093265409
I thought it would be a meme but it was a meaningful message. Love it ❤
— Key♒️ (@keyboardHarpist) May 10, 2019
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CNN reports that some members of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School’s graduating class of 2018 wore caps with orange price tags on them. The amount, $1.05, represented the money that Florida Senator Marco Rubio received from the NRA when divided by every student in the state. Warren told CNN that she “wanted to do something just as powerful but send a message to everyone who saw it.” She added that she also wanted to commemorate the students who had died.
"This is mostly about honoring these kids," she told CNN. "I want more than anything to keep their memory alive. But looking at that list, I'm hoping that everyone is touched and sees that there is a serious, serious problem in our country."
If you feel strongly about this issue, you can find concrete ways to support gun control here.
