It has been exactly one month since the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting. High schools Nationwide showed solidarity for ending gun violence by conducting a national walkout Mar. 14 at 10am.

It was Valentine’s Day when 19 year old Nikolas Cruz opened fire at the Parkland high school. Cruz killed 14 students and three faculty members and 17 wounded with non fatal injuries.

In response to the increasing amount of school shootings students began the movement, #NeverAgain and #Enough, to change gun control laws.

#NationalWalkoutDay was organized to honor the victims at Parkland but to also protest current gun laws and mass shootings.

From New York to California students took to the streets and made their voices heard with slogans and signs. 

In Turlock Calif. John H. Pitman High School organized a walkout and a moment of silence that would last 17 minutes.

Turlock Unified School District posted the following statement regarding the school walkout:

“We are aware that some TUSD students may plan to participate in a nation-wide walk-out on March 14 to show solidarity for the victims of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. TUSD is prepared to accommodate our students’ interests and intentions while maintaining safe and secure campuses. Supervision will be provided for those students who elect to participate while remaining on campus during their demonstration efforts. Staff will remain in their classrooms and on campus unless otherwise directed. Site administrators are prepared to increase supervision for this day with additional support from the Turlock Police Department as needed. As always, we encourage parents to discuss the walk-out with their student and convey your expectations for their learning on that day.”

Students were told by administration at Pitman that there was not to be any marching or leaving campus; instead after the 17 minutes they would need to go back into their classes.  

17 students held up signs with the names of the victims of Parkland and released 17 orange balloons as a tribute.

During the walkout, students against the anti-gun laws stood in the back holding flags supporting the Second Amendment Right.

Tension began to rise as some students who participated in the protest began causing disruptions like laughing and talking during the moment of silence.

A group of students began to talk about the seriousness of this matter and how the protest is about honoring the lives lost, “This isn’t about you, this is about the people who were killed at Parkland,” a student said.

Administration and staff took action during this time and ushered students back into their classes.

According to The Washington Post, Northwestern University went into lockdown just hours after the gun violence protests, a person on campus was reported to have a gun. Northwestern University released an alert through text messages and social media warning students who were on campus to stay locked in, and those who were not on campus to stay away from the area. After a police investigation there was no evidence found and the campus lifted the lockdown.

The march for an end to gun violence continues as social justice group, March for our Lives, organizes a worldwide march for Saturday Mar. 24. 

March for our Lives will be having an event in Turlock Mar. 24 at 1 p.m. where they will meet at Stan State. Any person interested in participating can RSVP here.