Students and teachers across the nation are planning to walk out at 10 am ET to raise awareness about gun violence in schools in honor of the 17 victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre.
Freshman Alyssa Alhadeff died in the Parkland school shooting. Here’s what she left behind.
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Here’s what life is like for an 18-year-old high school senior who has become the face of a national movement
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Hundreds of students, teachers, and administrators are expected to walk out of schools and colleges today starting 10 am ET to protest Congress’ inaction in response to gun violence in schools and to demand stronger gun control laws.
The #Enough National School Walkout takes place on the one-month anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in which a 19-year-old man killed 17 people using a legally bought firearm.
The 17-minute walkout is in honor of the 17 victims of the school shooting. More than 2,800 walkouts are planned across the country, according to the Women’s March Youth Empower group, which organized the protest.
“We are walking out for ALL people who have experienced gun violence, including systemic forms of gun violence that disproportionately impact teens in Black and Brown communities,” the organizers said on their website.
The teenage activists of Empower are demanding Congress to declare gun violence a public health crisis and to pass stronger gun control laws including banning assault weapons and expanding background checks.
Some students plan to circle their school holding hands, and others plan to congregate in hallways to hold hands, sing songs, or stand in silence, the event’s website said. Some will speak the names of the people killed by gun violence. The organizers have suggested that the walkouts be limited to the school’s students and staff. Others are encouraged to show solidarity with the walkouts by wearing orange or walking out of their workplaces to stand with others for 17 minutes.
While many schools have allowed their students to participate in the walkouts, some others have threatened disciplinary action, including suspensions, for those who walk out. According to the ACLU, schools can discipline students for missing a class, but cannot discipline them more harshly than they normally would specifically for expressing a political view or supporting the views behind a protest.
Another national school walkout is slated for April 20 to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting. And on March 24, the #March4OurLives demonstration, organized by the Parkland school shooting survivors, will take place in Washington DC.
A mom, a dad, two little brothers, a soccer team, a desk, a box of nail polish, cleats, a silver dress she wore on her bat mitzvah: These are some of the things the 14-year-old girl left behind when she was killed on Valentine’s Day.
Read more about her story here.
–Remy Smidt
Emma González, a Parkland school shooting survivor whose impassioned plea at a gun control protest went viral, has since become one of the most recognizable faces of Never Again — the teen-led movement to end gun violence in schools.
Read Remy Smidt’s profile on the now-famous high school senior spearheading a national movement.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/2FPxKNt
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