Demanding Change

School Walkout to Be Biggest Anti-Gun Protest Since Parkland Shooting

At more than 3,000 schools across the country.

Students across America will stage a mass walkout Wednesday in what is expected to be the biggest anti-gun demo to be held since 17 people were killed in the Parkland school shooting last month. Around 3,000 protests are set to take place throughout the U.S., including roadside rallies, demonstrations on football fields, and some students are planning to head to their local statehouse to lobby for new gun laws. Empower, the youth wing of the Women’s March organization, was loosely responsible for organizing the day of action and has urged students to leave their classrooms at 10 a.m. local time for 17 minutes—one minute for each person who lost their life on Feb. 14. “Our elected officials must do more than tweet thoughts and prayers in response to this violence,” the group said on its website. Districts in Sayreville, New Jersey, and Maryland’s Harford County were criticized this week when they warned students that they could face punishment if they left their classrooms.