These pictures from the second National School Walkout will make you tear up
On March 14th, thousands of students around the country participated in the first National School Walkout Day to call for gun control reform. The protests were the culmination of a month of preparation, and garnered national attention. But American students are not done speaking out against gun violence. Today, April 20th, there is a second National School Walkout, and this demonstration promises to be just as powerful.
Unlike the March walkouts, which were only scheduled to last for 17 minutes, protesters today are encouraged to participate all day. After observing 13 seconds of silence at 10 a.m. in each time zone, participants have been urged to join rallies and speeches, and some are even planning to walk to their local government offices to demand change. According to Vox, some schools will count participation in the walkout as an unexcused absence.
The April 20th National School Walkout was started by Lane Murdock, a 16-year-old sophomore in Connecticut. After the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Murdock started a Change.org petition calling for a school walkout on the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine shooting. According to the National School Walkout website, more than 2,600 protests have been planned for today, with events in every state.
Across the country, students wearing orange and carrying signs have walked out of class.
Kids are starting to walk out of Ridgefield high, the school of national school walkout organizer Lane Murdock pic.twitter.com/XPi9Uk3iSN
— Matthew Ormseth (@MatthewOrmseth) April 20, 2018
National School Walkout. Royal Oak High students arrive at rally! Powerful day! pic.twitter.com/OdfFyrqNDd
— MartinBrook (@martincbrook) April 20, 2018
North High School students gather in support of the national gun violence walkout pic.twitter.com/O90dkoy3Ix
— DM North Media (@DMNorthMedia) April 20, 2018
Alabama schools participating in second National School Walkout https://t.co/4yJq5Jmc2Y pic.twitter.com/oGBeWdNSOk
— AL.com Mobile (@ALcomMobile) April 20, 2018
As the bagpipes were played, several hundred Anderson High School students joined the national walkout for change in school safety Friday morning holding signs and rallying in front of the school. pic.twitter.com/obGz3buLvD
— John Cleary (@johnpcleary) April 20, 2018
Woodridge students making a difference with respect and dignity. You don't begin a school walk out without the National Anthem. Thank you all for being the students all educators hope to have! #woodridgepride pic.twitter.com/9sDEoOCWNI
— WoodridgeHighSchool (@WoodridgeWHS) April 20, 2018
At one Florida school, four students stood strong in their protest, even though they were the only participants.
today, 4 of my friends and I were the only people to participate in today’s National School Walkout in remembrance of the Columbine shooting and in the honor of respecting all the lives lost due to the horrific acts of gun violence. we students will make change @schoolwalkoutUS pic.twitter.com/6osUquVpa6
— bad boy in the club (@heyilikeyourdog) April 20, 2018
Students from as far away as Guam even joined the school walkout.
GWHS students held a peace rally against gun violence at the Mangilao campus Friday morning. The rally happened during National Walk Out Day and aimed to protest gun violence at schools and spread a message of peace. pic.twitter.com/y3lTu3078i
— Guam DOE (@GuamDOE) April 20, 2018
And Parkland survivors joined today’s demonstration, too.
I walked out so far I ended up in NY !❤️ Remembering Columbine today in our moments of silence, in servicing our communities, and in loving each other. Orange is the color for gun violence survivors, and we wear it today in solidarity of one another. pic.twitter.com/9SFSACvMlb
— X González (@callmeX) April 20, 2018
Students’ gun control activism has begun to have a tangible effect. In late February, several retailers, including Walmart, pledged to stop selling firearms or ammunition to customers under 21. But in terms of national gun control laws, there is still a long way to go.
Today’s National School Walkout shows just how committed to change these students are. We are proud to see so many participate in these marches, and we will stand by those calling for gun control reform. We need to end gun violence now.
