National School Walkout: LA Students Say 'Enough' To Gun Violence

LOS ANGELES, CA — One by one, they got up out of their seats and walked out. By the thousands they marched out of their classrooms to stand in solidarity with the students in Parkland, Florida where 17 people were killed by one gunman. They honored their dead peers and called on their country to act before another school shooter can kill again.

The 17-minute walkouts were done mostly in silence. Students carried signs and held banners, reading "Enough" and "Never Again." At Granada Hills Charter School, students wore orange T-shirts with the names of the 17 people killed in Parkland handwritten in black. Last month, a student threatened to shoot classmates at the school, and this week the Los Angeles City Attorney charged the boy's father with failing to secure guns in the home.

"I have only known a world where acts of terror and acts of mass murder were a commonality, and something that happens so often where it's not even a surprise anymore," Kara Glaser, a 16-year-old junior at Granada Hills Charter High School told KTLA. "Today it means that I and all of the students here are saying enough to gun violence, enough to watching our peers be murdered too soon, enough of having to be scared to go to school."

The national walkout, said Glaser, is a way for students "to show our government our show everybody that we are not afraid to stand up, so that my kids don't have to go to school and be scared."

The walkouts mark the one-month anniversary of the Feb. 14 shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The demonstrations began at 10 a.m. and continue for 17 minutes -- one for every person who died in the shooting.

Some school administrators and districts such as the Los Angeles Unified School District worked with students to help organize events with a goal of ensuring students confine their activities to campuses.

At Venice High School, hundreds of students walked peacefully onto the front lawn of the campus facing Venice Boulevard. Some students manned tables urging their classmates to write letters to Congress and sign a petition supporting research on gun violence.

On an outdoor stage, students holding orange daisies stepped forward and read off the names of the 17 people killed at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Others held a long banner listing the names of all the victims.

Fourteen student chair-desks were placed on the lawn in front of three teachers' desks, signifying the Parkland victims.

"We don't need 17 more," one students said as he walked by the display.

Many students wore orange T-shirts with the words, "Venice Stands with Parkland" and showing maps of California and Florida linked by a dotted line.

Senior student April Cuarenta wore a sticker that read, "I wrote a letter to Congress." She told City News Service she wrote to House Speaker Paul Ryan to tell him, "I'm tired of living in fear coming to school" and urging him to allow a debate on gun laws.

Several students told CNS they intend to keep pressing the gun violence issue, and they planned to spell out "#Enough" on the football field in coming days.

At Redondo Union High School, students chanted, "No more silence. End gun violence."

Los Angeles Unified School District Interim Superintendent Vivian Ekchian said last month she encourages students and schools to take part in "on-campus activities" to mark the anniversary of the shooting. But she urged parents to "talk to their children and encourage them not to leave campus."

The Los Angeles Police Department issued a similar message, encouraging students "to express themselves" but noting "it is imperative students do it in a manner that is respectful to fellow classmates and Los Angeles residents, as well as remain on their respective campuses during the demonstration."

"The department understands the need for students to participate in peaceful dialogue within the parameters of school administrators" but "the safety of our young adults relies on their willingness to remain on campus under the protection of the Los Angeles Unified School Police Department," according to the LAPD.

"The Los Angeles Police Department will support the Los Angeles Unified School District as well as the many independent schools within our city limits with extra patrols and respond to any critical incidents that may arise."

LAUSD officials said events have been organized at several campuses.

At Carson High School, orange-clad students walked from classrooms to the campus quad and hold a 17-minute sit-in featuring speeches from select students.

At Eagle Rock Junior/Senior High School, a silent remembrance featured 17 chairs bearing the names of the Parkland shooting victims.

At Francis Polytechnic High School in Sun Valley, hundreds of students linked arms on the football field and took part in a "#NeverAgain" assembly.

Venice High School students, also dressed in orange, gathered on the school's front lawn, where 17 chairs were placed with the names of the shooting victims.

Other planned events included:

-- Miguel Contreras Learning Complex hosted a student-organized demonstration and news conference calling for a national assault weapons ban and universal background checks, along with an end to random searches of students at LAUSD schools.

-- Students at Culver City High School gathered on the campus football field for a rally and discussion about school safety.

-- Students at Crescenta Valley High School walked out of class and gather on the school track. They planned to release 17 doves in honor of the Parkland victims.

MARCH 14: A student from has the words,'don't shoot,' written on her hands as she joins with other students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after walking out of their school to honor the memories of 17 students and teachers that were killed during a mass shooting at the high school on March 14, 2018 in Parkland, Florida. The students joined others around the country to mark the one month anniversary of the shooting with a National Walk out day. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

City News Service contributed to this report

*Correction: This story has been updated with the correct spelling of Kara Glaser's name.