Students and staff arriving for the third day of a new school year got an unexpected surprise on Friday in the form of demonstrators stationed around the perimeter of the building.

These demonstrators could be seen holding up signs depicting aborted fetuses with anti-abortion rhetoric printed on the front as well as handing out pamphlets from Project Frontlines, a self-proclaimed abolitionist movement against abortion. They represented the group Abolish Human Abortion (AHA). They approached students and tried to engage them in conversation; some even used megaphones. They returned again to continue their demonstration at the end of the school day

Members of the group told the Central Times that Naperville Central was chosen as a demonstration site at random. School administration was not contacted before their arrival.

Shawn Viland, one of the demonstrators, said that they chose to express their opinions at a high school rather than a family planning clinic because they believe that they need to express their opinions to teenagers before the topic of abortion even comes up.

“Teenagers are having sex and then they’re having abortions because they think that’s a solution for a problem, but they don’t really understand that they are already the parent of a child,” Viland said.

Another demonstrator, who identified himself only as Glenn, joined the movement two years ago. Having previously participated in demonstrations  at Planned Parenthood clinics, he  only recently began going to high schools.

“I realized it’s not just a blob of cells, it’s a baby,” Glenn said. “[Going to the schools] I was surprised by how hardened the kids are. I see the evil now.”

Glenn engaged in multiple verbal  altercations with  passing students both before and after Friday classes were in session. Many yelled, honked their car horns or simply just took a picture of him.

Principal Bill Wiesbrook, along with several other members of Central’s administration including school resource officer Ann Quigley, monitored student interaction with demonstrators. While doing so, Wiesbrook said he inquired about the group’s intentions.  

“I did speak with one of [the demonstrators] who told me that one of their goals was to get people talking and to get people thinking, and that they think that when they do things like this, it’s an effective way of getting people to talk about abortion,” Wiesbrook said.

Central’s main office  received several calls and emails from parents inquiring about the demonstrators. Some parents and students were concerned by the fact that the demonstration was not only  happening when  students were not expecting it, but also while  they were unaccompanied by adults.

“I just think it’s disgusting that they’re trying to influence underage high schoolers,” senior Ashley Laubsted said.

Junior Grace Drake agreed with Laubsted.

“This group is outside of a high school, they know that they’re talking to minors, and, from what I’ve seen, they have been harassing and yelling at students, and I don’t think that’s okay,” Drake said.

Lory Watson, mother of sophomore Mitch Watson, voiced her concern that there were young children who were seeing the content of the signs.

“I understand that they have a message that they want to convey, but there are incoming freshman who are 13 or 14 who either didn’t understand or who didn’t need see that message at seven in the morning,” Watson said.

She says that she would rather have the conversation about abortion in her home instead of having the issue brought up to her children without her knowledge.

“It goes without saying that abortion is a complicated moral issue,” Watson said. “Certainly, many of us want our high-schoolers to start to explore these types of complexities as they journey toward adulthood, but arguably not outside the school at 7 a.m. and not, perhaps, when unaccompanied by their parents or another trusted adult who they can turn to with questions.”

Despite her qualms, Watson said that she respects the demonstrators’ rights to voice their opinions under their First Amendment rights.

Andrea Yarger, mother of three seniors at Central, said that when she arrived at school to pick up her daughter, she was very disturbed by the content of the signs.

“I don’t have any issue with people expressing their beliefs, but I do have an issue with them being in front of the school, obviously targeting school children, some of whom may not be emotionally equipped to handle such images, and, as a parent, that’s my concern,” Yarger said.

Wiesbrook addressed these fears by sending out an email informing parents of what was happening as well as stationing different members of Central’s faculty, in both the morning and the afternoon, around the school in order to make sure that everything happening was completely legal.

“I told [the demonstrators] that I wanted to make sure that they didn’t do anything illegal or that they didn’t come onto our campus, that they didn’t violate any laws,” Wiesbrook said.

Confronted with graphic images and an unplanned, real-life civics lesson, several students took to social media to express their views on the day’s events. The Central Times will continue to update this story with additional voices as we are able.

Update: 8:30 p.m., Aug. 21

Demonstrators from Central earlier in the day have assembled on Jefferson Street in front of Nichols Library, Lou Malnati’s and the Apple Store.

Update: 8:47 a.m., Aug. 27

Elena Byrd, News Editor

“If it was an album it would have mixed reviews,” said a 16-year-old demonstrator representing the AHA on Saturday as the stood holding signs on the sidewalks of Main st. in downtown Naperville. 

One of the demonstrators, who identified himself as Dave, explained why they were downtown Naperville.

“[We want to] raise awareness and engage the culture,” he said.

There was some debate between the public and the demonstrators. There was a discussion about beliefs between one of the demonstrators and an agnostic teen. An 18-year-old man was standing in front of some of the demonstrators with a sign that read ‘I’m Pro-abortion’.

“I came out here because I wanted to express my belief of abortion,” he said, “It’s a woman’s choice to want to have an abortion.”

What are your thoughts on the demonstration? Do you think that they should be allowed to hold graphic signs and hand out literature on a school campus?

Drew Quiriconi, Nicky Simos and Maya Fenter contributed to this story.