As the adults in power fail again and again to take action on gun control, high school students are taking matters in to their own hands.
In the wake of the murder of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, last week, teenagers have been spurred to action, fighting for their right to go to school and not worry that someone will come charging in with an assault rifle. Today, hundreds of students in the D.C. suburbs have walked out of school to march on the U.S. Capitol and express their frustration at the government’s inaction on gun control.
“All people in this country, particularly children, should feel safe and should not live in fear of a gunman killing them in their school, place of worship, or a nightclub,” the demonstration organizers wrote in a statement posted on Facebook. “We expect our leaders to do whatever is required to keep us safe. That has not happened.”
Hundreds of Blair High students march down Colesville Road for walkout to protest gun violence pic.twitter.com/IaAoRZwUul
— Bethany Rodgers (@BethMRodgers) February 21, 2018
Across the nation, students are organizing marches and walk-outs for gun control. The Women’s March’s Youth EMPOWER group is planning a national school walkout on March 14, according to the group’s website. Students will march out of school at 10 a.m. and stay out for 17 minutes–one minute for every person killed at Marjory Stoneman.
On March 24, student organizers, including those from Parkland, are planning March For Our Lives, a march in Washington, D.C., to call for school safety and gun control. Another group is calling for students to walk out on April 20, the 19th anniversary of the Columbine high school shooting. While no time has been specified yet, the walk-out’s Change.org petition page has over 94,000 signatures as of Wednesday morning.
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