Fulton Students Walkout To Protest Gun Violence

ROSWELL, GA — Students across the Fulton County School System are taking part in national efforts to honor the 17 people who were gunned down in the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and to call on national leaders to enact stricter gun laws in an effort to prevent this type of tragedy from happening again.

Hundreds of students at Fulton schools such as Roswell, Westlake, Chattahoochee, and North Springs high schools, took to their respective stadiums to show solidarity with their protesting peers as well as to pay their respects to the victims of the shooting. The school system, which said the students' activities on Wednesday would be closed to the public, chronicled the students' peaceful actions on its Facebook page.

As readers recall, the system said it would work with students wishing to take action to come up with activities that would not disrupt the day-to-day operations of their respective institutions (For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here).

At Westlake High School in South Fulton County, students packed their stadium and read the names of their Parkland peers who were shot dead by accused gunman Nikolas Cruz. They also held a panel led by the Student Government Association discussed issues related to stopping the violence.

About 1,000 Roswell High School students gathered at their stadium to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the Feb. 14 shooting. One name was read each minute during silence and after each name was called out, students took their seats.

Chattahoochee High student Alli Goldring speaks to her classmates about her cousin, Jamie Gutenberg, who was killed on February 14. #FCSSupportsParkland. pic.twitter.com/fCYLureQSs
— FultonCountySchools (@FultonCoSchools) March" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/FultonCoSc... 14, 2018

North Springs Principal Michael Hanson also expressed support for his students' actions Wednesday morning.

"Words cannot describe how proud I am of our students," he said in a tweet. "I am proud to be their Principal! These are the kids that will change the future!"

Banneker HS participates in the National School Walkout. #NationalSchoolWalkout #BHSWALKOUT #FCSSupportsParkland pic.twitter.com/rsEZFjncan
— Banneker High SGA (@bannekersga) March" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/bannekersg... 14, 2018

Students at Johns Creek High School walk out to support Parkland High School #fcssupportsparkland pic.twitter.com/XkeoHGBv1k
— Johns Creek High (@JohnsCreekHS) March" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/JohnsCreek... 14, 2018

Artwork in the hallway at Chattahoochee High. #FCSSupportsParkland. @HoochHappenings pic.twitter.com/YRKCViAO1k
— FultonCountySchools (@FultonCoSchools) March" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/FultonCoSc... 14, 2018

Other student-led events around Fulton County include:

• The principal at Sandtown Middle School reports she held a combination Parkland Memorial/Fire Drill. About 760 students went to the tennis courts shortly after 10 a.m. By 10:35 a.m., they had returned to classes.
• At Northwestern Middle School, seventh and eighth-grade students used the gym to share silent expressions of support. Sixth-grade students went to the cafeteria. While NMS staff supervised the groups, about 800 students created positive thought bubbles and statements about anti-violence and anti-bullying. Students were reportedly very respectful and polite during the expressions.
• 1,000 students gathered outside Milton High School and read narratives about each of the victims of the Parkland shooting, then talked about having a voice as young people.

Out of 36 schools holding events, principals only reported two had minor behavior incidents, and administrators handled the situations appropriately, spokesperson Donna Lowry said.

Lowry also addressed allegations that students at Cambridge High School had their microphones cut off during student-run speeches. At the end of the school's assembly, two students stood on picnic tables in another area and continued to speak.

Those students were told to stop because the assembly time was over, she added. Cambridge Principal Dr. Ed Spurka, who said the students went "off-script," added that those students used their remarks to advocate for gun control.

"In our efforts to stay on message with student unity and school safety, the students were redirected and asked to step down from the table," Dr. Spurka wrote in a message delivered to parents. "At Cambridge, our plan was in line with our district’s guidelines which stated the event should memorialize the victims of Parkland and not take political positions on political issues. At Cambridge, we have 2,000 students with many different political opinions. We will continue to work with our students to provide a safe school environment. We respect the political rights of our students and parents. However, the school cannot appear to take one political opinion over another. This event provided a great learning experience for our students we will continue to keep our focus on the safety of our school, students, and staff."

Hundreds of Decatur High School students silently walked out of classes at 10 a.m. Wednesday and gathered outside where speakers called for stiffer gun laws and sent sympathy to the victims of last month's deadly school shooting.

At Alexander High School in Douglas County, about 200 students walked out at 10 a.m. Douglas County Schools Superintendent Trent North said in a statement Tuesday that students will face, "no consequences," if they "walk out for a reasonable amount of time and return in an orderly fashion."

Nationally, in front of the White House, in the streets of Harlem and, most notably, at a football field in Florida, thousands of students across the country are participating in the National School Walkout memorial protests, which come a month to the day after a gunman shot and killed 17 people at a Parkland, Florida, high school.

Emboldened by a growing protest movement, the students are leaving their classrooms for 17 minutes — one minute to remember each person murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — beginning at 10 a.m. in their local time zones for the National Student Walkout.

In Harlem, the students are marching to Borough President Gale Brewer's northern Manhattan district office. Brewer will then accompany the students to the Harlem State Office Building on West 125th Street where they will protest congress' inaction on gun violence.

In Parkland, Florida, students streamed past a school fence that has been turned into a memorial for the 17 people killed on Feb. 14. They chanted "MSD" — for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — then gathered in a massive circle to sing a song written by several students after the shooting.

You can check out Patch's live coverage across the nation by clicking here.

Patch editors Doug Gross, John Barker and Beth Dalbey contributed to this article.

Images via Fulton County Schools