Students March to Protest Gun Violence on National Walkout Day

It has been one month since the tragic Parkland shooting that has taken 17 lives, and the response to the shooting has been historically proactive. In particular, the response all over the world, especially from teenagers, has been proactive. The March for our Lives will be happening in ten days on March 24th, but before then, we had National Walkout Day, where students all over America walked out of their schools at 10 am EST/1 pm PST) for seventeen minutes to protest gun violence.

Many schools encouraged the students’ walk outs, and many others threatened them with either detention or suspension. Still, the students walked out with 3,100 schools officially participating and 185,000 students in all fifty states walking out in order to protests the government’s consistent NRA funded inaction on gun violence. Elizabeth Downing, a high school senior and protest organizer in Indiana, said: “No matter what you decide the action to be, we just want action. We’re tired of thoughts and prayers, and we’re ready to finally do something.”

The 17 minutes were for the seventeen victims of the Parkland shooting, and marchers at Columbine High School added thirteen minutes for the thirteen victims of the 1999 Columbine school shooting. After the 17-minute walk out was up, in Parkland a 17-minute long prayer service was held at a nearby park.

Students also marched on Capitol Hill and through New York City, and powerful speeches — such as the one at the top of the entry — were given. The change seems imminent in how we view gun control, and it is thanks to powerful voices such as those of the students who made their voices heard today.

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