From today’s LA Times:
Students across the country — from middle school to college — walked out of class Wednesday, calling on state and federal legislators to enact stricter gun laws one month after the mass shooting at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Seventeen students and staff members were killed at the school in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14. On Wednesday, students at hundreds of schools across the nation left class at 10 a.m. local time for 17 minutes — one minute for each victim.
At Marjory Stoneman Douglas, two walkouts took place. Citing safety concerns, student government officials and administrators urged students not to leave campus, but to walk to the football field with teachers. Some students balked at the idea of a chaperoned walkout, saying they wanted to get off campus and spread their message to the broader public.
As students made their way to the football field, past a sculpture of the school Eagle mascot, they walked hand in hand or with their arms around each other. Only a few carried placards. There were no chants. Helicopters buzzed overhead.
David Hogg, 17, one of several students at the school who’ve gained national prominence for advocating gun control, livestreamed the walkout on his YouTube channel.
“We have to stand up now and take action,” Hogg said. He interviewed several of his classmates.
“This is about the need for change,” another student told Hogg. “Yes, the prayers from politicians are nice, but we need real change.”
Organized by the youth branch of the Women’s March, called Empower, the National School Walkout is urging Congress to take meaningful action on gun violence and pass federal legislation that would ban assault weapons and require universal background checks for gun sales.
Read the complete article here.