Thousands of students across the country are set to walk out of class on Friday, the 19th anniversary of the shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado.
More than 2,500 groups have signed up for the “National School Walkout,” a student-led protest aimed at bolstering the discussion about gun-control measures.
Lane Murdock, a high school sophomore who started a Change.org petition suggesting the walkout, said keeping the momentum of the national "March for Our Lives" movement strong was important to her and that, "Our generation is demanding change and won't be ignored or swept under the rug."
March for Our Lives grew out of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Seventeen people died in the Feb. 14 shooting.
Murdock told National Public Radio that the protest is "not conservative or liberal. It is just about making sure our children don't get harmed in school and we don't live in a community and in a country that has institutionalized fear. I think we're all sick of it. That's why we're doing this."
Murdock goes to a Connecticut high school about 20 minutes away from where Sandy Hook Elementary School once stood. The Newtown, Connecticut, school was the site of a mass shooting in 2012 where 26 people – mostly 6- and 7-year-old children – were killed.
Here’s what you need to know about Friday’s National School Walkout.
When is the National School Walkout?
The walkout is set for Friday and starts at 10 a.m.
What is the walkout about?
Students are protesting "congressional, state, and local failures to take action to prevent gun violence," according to the National School Walkout website. They are asking lawmakers to support:
- Legislation to strengthen background checks.
- Legislation to allow family members to request the issuance of a gun violence prevention warrant for those they fear may pose a danger to themselves or others.
- Bans on bump stocks.
- Raising minimum age to 21 to buy an assault rifle like the AR-15.
What will happen?
Students across the country will walk out of their schools at 10 a.m. local time and pause for 13 seconds of silence – one second for everyone killed at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999.
After that, organizers are encouraging students not to go back to school, but to stay out the entire day. They are telling students to hold rallies and letter-writing campaigns or other activities around the day.
How do you participate?
Since organizers are suggesting that students walkout of school for the day, the event is geared more toward high school students. More than 2,500 schools in the United States have registered their intention to participate in the walkout. Not all groups registered are high schools.
Organizers have compiled a guide with suggestions for activities and a link to resources including legal rights and safety tips.
Credit: Allen G. Breed
Credit: Allen G. Breed
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