Union Students Join Walkout Against School Violence

Students across the Tulsa area and across the nation walked out of class Wednesday morning to protest gun violence.

The walkouts took place all over the district Wednesday morning - all of them organized and led by students. The National School Walkout began at 9 a.m. on the east coast, but many local schools walked out around 10 a.m.

Some of the schools involved were Nathan Hale High School, Broken Arrow High School, Carver Middle School and Union Public Schools.

The plan for most of these walkouts is for students to walk out of class for 17 minutes - one minute for every student killed in the Parkland shooting in Florida last month. 

3/9/2018 Related Story: Sapulpa Students Honor Florida School Shooting Victims

Hundreds of students took to the Union football field in hopes of pushing lawmakers for stricter gun laws and to make schools a place where students feel safe.

"This could happen to anyone. It happened in Florida but it could happen at our school. So, I think missing a class is fine. It's time to make a change and do something different," senior Sarah Babar said.

The district said they will not count any of the students who participated in the walkout absent.

Leading the walkout are students at Stoneman Douglas High School who are urging lawmakers to pass tighter gun laws.

"I wanted people to know that Stoneman Douglas will be the last school this happens to," said Stoneman Douglas High School student Julia Brighton.

"We wanted to make a change, we want to be the generation that changes everything."