Group Of SCHS Students Join National Walkout

 

Students across the United States, this morning, at 10 a.m., in their respected time zones, participated in a nationwide walkout.

In the weeks since the shooting in Parkland, Florida, survivors and their allies have turned their grief into activism and advocacy.

Part of that effort was today’s national school walkout.

Some students at Stephens County High School, were among those to walkout, demanding lawmakers to pass stricter gun control laws; however, not all students participated in the walkout.

During today’s walkout in Stephens County, roughly 100 students participated in protest.

Several held signs saying “Schools not Warzones,” or “#nomore.”

Stephens County Principal Scott Kersh told WNEG News during the protest that he neither encouraged or discouraged students from participating.

It was their choice to make, he added.

Students are afforded the first amendment right, allowing them to protest; however, they can be reprimanded for skipping class, not the act of protesting.

As far as Stephens County High School, Kersh did not say if students would be penalized for participating.

The nationwide protest is both a memorial and protest action.

Students and teachers across the United States walked out of their schools to honor the lives of the 17 people killed at Stoneman Douglas and press lawmakers to pass stricter gun control laws.

Among their demands, participants are asking Congress to: Ban assault weapons; require universal background checks before gun sales; pass a gun violence restraining order law that would allow courts to disarm people who display warning signs of violent behavior.