Alabama schools participating in second National School Walkout

At 10 a.m. today--the 19th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting-- students across the country will walk out of their schools for the second time this year to protest gun violence in schools.

At least 11 Alabama schools are participating in the second National School Walkout.

Students first walked out of their schools to protest gun violence on March 14--one month after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left three teachers and 14 students dead. Students stood outside their schools for 17 minutes with each minute representing each life taken in the Parkland shooting.

Students at Huffman High School in east Birmingham stood outside for an additional minute March 14 in memory of senior Courtlin Arrington, who was shot at killed at the school on March 7. 

Today, students plan to walk out of their schools at 10 a.m. local time and observe 13 minutes of silence in memory of the 12 students one teacher killed at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. Students are then encouraged to hold open mics, protests, rallies, meet with or write letters to their local lawmakers or other activism events throughout the day.

As of late Thursday night, more than 2700 walkout events are registered nationwide, according to this site. 

According to the Pew Research Center, a majority of students in the U.S. fear a shooting could happen at their school.

Of the students polled, 57 percent said they were very worried or somewhat worried a shooting could happen at their school, with more Black and Hispanic students reporting this fear.

Sixty percent of Black students said they were very worried or somewhat worried about a school shooting. Those statistics were even higher for Hispanic students with 73 percent of Hispanic students polled being very worried or somewhat worried about a school shooting.

Madison County's High School Democrats will host a "March for Our Lives" Saturday in downtown Huntsville.

Marchers will gather along the Big Spring Park canal in downtown Huntsville at 800 Monroe Street. The event is scheduled to last from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.

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