High school students in Florida staged a walkout on Friday to protest our government's lack of action on gun control. There are several more planned in the coming weeks.
Students at South Broward High School in Hollywood, Florida took to the streets on Friday, demonstrating their anger over the seemingly endless preventable epidemic of mass shootings. The protests come in the wake of Wednesday's school shooting in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 dead and 14 more injured.
Although most high school students are not yet old enough to vote, they soon will be, and elected officials would be wise to start paying attention to them.
There have been 18 school shootings since 2018 began. That's nearly one every three days.
AR-15s are the usual weapon of choice in school shootings, and heavier regulations on them have drawn the attention of supporters of gun control. "WALK OUT, GO HOME, and DO NOT return until we see some gun safety ACTION plan regarding the AR-15," wrote Overheard in Room 22.
There is a walkout planned for Wednesday, March 14th, according to National Student Walk Out.
Another national walkout is planned for Friday, April 20th, thanks to a thread posted on Reddit encouraging a boycott of classes until meaningful action on gun control is taken. April 20th is the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting in Columbine, Colorado. Thirteen people were killed and the two shooters committed suicide.
"On Friday, April 20th we want students to attend school and then promptly WALK-OUT at 10:00 am. Sit outside your schools and peacefully protest. Make some noise. Voice your thoughts. "We are students, we are victims, we are change," National School Walkout tweeted on Friday.
Support for the proposed walkout is enthusiastic.
"Down with this broken system."
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
@arianagrande/Instagram
@arianagrande/Instagram