Glen Rock Students Will Walkout In Protest Of Gun Violence, Laws

GLEN ROCK, NJ — Students at the high school will participate in a nationwide walkout Wednesday in protest of recent gun violence in schools and to call for stricter firearm laws.

The 17-minute walkout is one of hundreds that will be held across the United States spearheaded by the Enough National School Walkout of the Women's March Youth EMPOWER organization. The length of time is done in memory of the 17 victims of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida earlier this year. (See Related: Florida Shooting Victim, 14, Lived In NJ, 'Loved, Well-Respected')

The organization said the 10 a.m. walkouts are to "protest Congress' inaction to do more than tweet thoughts and prayers in response to the gun violence plaguing our schools and neighborhoods." Other walkouts will occur in Ridgewood, Fair Lawn, Waldwick, Allendale and Montvale.

Residents are showing they support local students by displaying orange ribbons on their properties.

Casey Bedwell-Coll, a freshman at Glen Rock High School, organized the march there with senior Jean Walter.

"There have been threats made and every single time there is one, my friends and I think we are going to die," Bedwell-Coll said. "I think the chances of something actually happening are slim, but there's something in the back of your mind as it's happening that tells you it could be real."

Bedwell-Coll said the walkout will begin during a school assembly about civil disobedience, which begins at 9:30 a.m. During the assembly, someone will get up and tell everyone the walkout will begin.

Participants will get up and walk outside somewhere, although she did not say exactly where the group would go. A few people will speak and 17 white balloons will be released into the sky.

Bedwell-Coll said a lot of students, and even some faculty members, have expressed interest in participating in the walkout. She said she spoke with administrators and participating students will not be disciplined.

"We want to show Congress and every legislator who could possibly do something that something needs to change," Bedwell-Coll said. "My school is in a safe town, with fairly good security, but there is always the possibility that something could happen."

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Photo: Students participate in a protest against gun violence Feb. 21 outside the White House in Washington, D.C. Hundreds of students from a number of Maryland and DC schools walked out of their classrooms and made a trip to the U.S. Capitol and the White House to call for gun legislation, one week after 17 were killed in the latest mass school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)