QR code on graduation cap sends people to list of high school shooting victims
A high school student in Ohio is using her cryptic graduation cap to make a statement.
Gina Warren, 18, of Ashville, Ohio, is seeking to raise awareness of violence at schools by referring people to a website with a list of students killed in U.S. high schools. She is using the black and white grid of a QR code on her head as a pointer to the site.
The Teays Valley High School senior plans to wear the code on her cap at her graduation ceremony Sunday.
“'I graduated. These high school students couldn’t.' - @Gi10eight honors the 49 high school students from 10 HS mass shootings in the last 20 yrs via a QR code on top of her graduation cap. #MarchForOurLives from #Columbine to #STEMShooting https://t.co/EjXGcvQbXk pic.twitter.com/0rYodh3sCd
— UniteWomen Campus (@UWCampus) May 11, 2019
Warren tweeted a video of her creation stating simply, “I decorated my graduation cap.”
i decorated my graduation cap pic.twitter.com/FBzQ8BTIxo
— Gina (@Gi10eight) May 9, 2019
“I was inspired by the orange price tag caps that many students did last year after the Parkland shooting,” Warren told CNN, referring to what Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School’s class of 2018 did after 17 people were killed there.
“Their caps were a message to the NRA and lawmakers. I wanted to do something just as powerful but send a message to everyone who saw it,” Warren told CNN,
Last year, some Marjory Stoneman grads wore $1.05 price tags on their caps to represent how much each Florida student was worth to Sen. Marco Rubio based on donations from the National Rifle Association.
Other students liked Warren’s idea and asked if they could help spread the message.
i would love for you to! pic.twitter.com/2bo1SayfPd
— Gina (@Gi10eight) May 13, 2019
Warren’s list, titled “I graduated. These high school students couldn’t,” runs from the 1999 Columbine High School massacre to last week’s STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting near Denver.
“This is mostly about honoring these kids,” Warren 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.”
Steven Adams is a Tribune-Review manager/photography. You can contact Steven at sadams@triblive.com.
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