Howard County Students Plan Walkouts On March 14

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Students from a handful of schools in Howard County are planning to join a national movement this week protesting recent gun violence in schools and calling for stricter laws. Students will walk out of class starting at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 14.

The walkout events are planned across the country after 17 students and staff were killed and numerous people injured in the Valentine's Day massacre in Parkland, Florida.

Students participating in the national walkout on March 14 will leave their classrooms for 17 minutes – one minute for each life taken at the school on Feb. 14, according to organizers.

Reservoir High School, River Hill High School, Thomas Viaduct Middle School, Wilde Lake High School and Wilde Lake Middle School have all planned walkouts.

At Reservoir, students are asked to "wear as much orange as you can and walk straight out of your classroom into the hallway..."

At River Hill, students will walk outside, with organizers noting the demonstration will be peaceful, and students will return to class after 17 minutes of protest. Organizers say they have confirmed with administrators that students will not be stopped from participating, nor will they face penalties for doing so.

"We need action. Students and allies are organizing the national school walkout to demand Congress pass legislation to keep us safe from gun violence at our schools, on our streets and in our homes and places of worship," according to the nationwide event page.

You can find a full list of schools participating in the walkout here.

Schools across the nation have been on high alert since the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School resulted in 17 killed and more than a dozen others injured in Parkland, Florida.

Threats to schools, many of them turning out to be unsubstantiated, have skyrocketed.

There have been 838 school-based threats or violent incidents in the U.S. since the Parkland shooting — an average of 70 per school day, according to the Educator's School Safety Network.

A Snapchat post on March 6 put Harpers Choice Middle School on alert last week that resulted in additional counselors and police being posted at the school on March 8.

The Howard County Public School System receives about two threats each month, officials said at a school safety forum held last month the aftermath of the Florida school shooting.

SEE ALSO: HoCo Superintendent Talks School Safety And Mental Health

— By Kara Seymour and Elizabeth Janney

Main image, demonstrators support gun control reform near the White House on February 19, 2018, in Washington, DC, days after a high school in Parkland, Florida. (Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images)