COLUMBUS – One month to the day after 17 people were killed in a shooting rampage at a Florida high school, students in Columbus and across the nation will observe the occasion with a walkout aimed at promoting safety.
Students and staff in the Columbus City Schools will join in the Youth EMPOWER National School Walkout, a 17-minute walkout scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m Wednesday while, at the same time, teachers will offer additional classroom conversations on ways in which students play an important role in fostering positive climates and safer schools, according to a resolution approved by the Columbus Board of Education.
Students at Columbus Alternative High School will hold their activities and walkout on Tuesday because Wednesdays at the school are dedicated to out-of-school community internships.
Nearly 250 students from more than 25 high schools across Ohio will travel to the Statehouse to lobby for stricter gun laws.
The Ohio School Boards Association, meanwhile, is asking districts to adopt a resolution that calls school violence “an epidemic” and advocates for the government to prioritize and better fund school safety efforts following the deadly shooting in Parkland, Florida, last month.
The draft resolution says that students and teachers shouldn’t have to fear injury or death at school, and that districts need help to prevent school violence.