Students all around the world stood up and walked out of class on March 14th, exactly one month after the Florida shooting of Stoneman Douglas High School. Unfortunately, 17 lives were lost that day and 17 others were injured. As a result of the shooting, people all around the world are standing up for the kids who lost their lives and every other student in the world. Not only are students standing up for what they believe in, they are choosing to honor innocent lives that were lost by walking out of school for 17 minutes.

Even faculty members chose to support the children with their decisions and walk out alongside them. For example, many elementary school teachers took their students out of class to participate in the walk out, even though they might not understand the reasons behind it. It does not matter how young somebody is, you can still make a change. Many students believed that this small act would gain awareness from people with higher power and get them to make a change. Schools are becoming unsafe, and there needs to be something done about it or the situation will only continue to worsen.

About 300 students from Oak Lawn Community High School participated in the 17 minute walk out on March 14th. These kids took a stand in hopes of making a change, but to also honor those who lost their lives. Although, there are some people who believe that a simple walk out will not accomplish any changes and that is okay. We are all entitled to our own opinions and are allowed to make their own choices. Instead of participating in the walk out, many people decided to “walk up”. People chose to walk up to the ones that may not have many friends. Everybody uses their voices in their own unique way, but it’s amazing when we do it together to stand up for something we all believe in.