They were remembering the Parkland, Florida high school mass shooting.
Frederick, Md (KM) Like students in other parts of the country, Frederick County public school students walked out of classes on Wednesday, the one-month anniversary of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 dead. “The groups participating in the walkouts ranged from a very small handful; the largest one was about 300 students,” says Frederick County Public Schools spokesman Michael Doerrer.
Another media source says more than 2,200 students throughout the country participated.
Doerrer says the protests lasted from a few minutes to under 30-minutes. He also the walkouts were peaceful. “Most importantly, all of our students were very closely monitored and supervised. All of the students were safe: students outside the building and students inside the building,”: says Doerrer.
“We also had increased law enforcement presence throughout the county,” he said. “We’re grateful to our law enforcement partners who helped monitor schools throughout the county to make sure all of our schools were safe.”
School System officials say students walked out the county’s 12 middle schools and seven high schools.
But Doerrer says there were other activities for students to mark the anniversary of the Parkland shooting. “Those activities ranged from performing acts of kindness in memory of the lives lost to learning about how to identify and contact lawmakers to have your voice heard,” he said.
Doerrer says it’s crucial for young people to learn about civic engagement. “We think it’s important for students to have voices in important national conversations like the conversation about school safety,” he says. “These are future voters, future business leaders, future political leaders.”
Although students were allowed to participate in walkouts and to express their opinions, the School System says it does not condone walkouts by students due to safety concerns that could develop.
By Kevin McManus