Students from Deerfield Beach began an 11-mile march Friday to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland to show their support for the victims and survivors of last week’s school shooting.
According to CNN affiliate WSVN, Deerfield Beach High School staff allowed the students to participate in the march and even assigned security guards to accompany the group. The walk is expected to take several hours.
Some students carried signs during the walk. They wanted to send a message to lawmakers regarding gun control legislation and school safety, WSVN reported.
“Congressmen, if you’re watching this, I promise you: me and my peers, once we’re 18, you are out of there,” one student said. “That’s not a threat — that’s a promise.”
Deerfield Beach High School directed CNN to the Broward County School District for questions on the walk, but those calls have not been returned.
Friday’s walk followed a string of walkouts conducted by students across the country earlier in the week. From Florida to Minnesota to Arizona, students made a show of solidarity with the victims of last Wednesday’s massacre that left 17 people dead.
Students from Palm Beach County walked about 10 miles to Stoneman Douglas, according to CNN affiliate WPLG. And students from Cypress Bay High School in Weston had the support of their city and school officials when they went to a nearby park to rally in support of Stoneman Douglas students.
Others weren’t so lucky. Some schools threatened disciplinary action against students who participated in walkouts.
The Needville Independent School District in Texas said students who participated in a walkout or other political protests would be suspended for three days.
Another school district in Waukesha, Wisconsin, told parents that teachers and students who participated in a March 14 walkout wouldn’t be excused. The district’s superintendent called the action “disruptive and against school regulations” in the letter, but clarified in a later statement that the students “have a right to demonstrate to support a cause.”