National School Walkout Planned After Florida Shooting
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Last week's mass shooting at a Florida high school has prompted students in Broward County Florida to call for walkouts on school campuses across the United States aimed at pushing lawmakers to pass tougher gun laws.
"We're going to make ourselves so loud, so brazen, that they won't be able to ignore us," said one survivor of Wednesday's shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Organizers behind the Women's March are assisting the students, and together have called for a 17-minute walkout on March 14 to "protest Congress' inaction to do more than tweet thoughts and prayers in response to the gun violence plaguing our schools and neighborhoods."
RELATED: Thousands In Chicago Protest Gun Laws Following Florida Shooting
Dr. Joyce Kenner, principal of Chicago's Whitney Young High school, said she is sympathetic to the cause, as are other school administrators.
"Emotionally, every single day, I walk into that building and, hopefully at the end of the day, every student is safe and can go home," Kenner said.
While the Chicago Public Schools district forbids students from walking out of school, Kenner says she will adjust the school's schedule so students can take 17 minutes outside of the building to remember the 17 who died in Florida.
Parents Dani and Jeff Moran said they are willing to allow their 14-year-old son Jack to participate. "We support it. I think it's a great way for kids to be involved. It could just as easily be our own community," Dani said.
Jack added, "It's sad, but it is something that happens. I think it's good to raise awareness about it, so that way we can hopefully prevent it from happening next time."
The Florida students are operating under the banner of a new group called March for Our Lives. Speaking to CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, one survivor said they hope to spark a national movement.
LISTEN: Illinois Congresswoman Robin Kelly is hoping the voices of young people who survived the Florida school shooting will help spark meaningful new gun laws.