Thousands of students across metro Atlanta are expected to participate in mass protests next Wednesday during an event that has become known as National School Walkout Day.
Many systems, including the Fulton, Clayton, Henry and DeKalb counties, are allowing their students to participate in the 17-minute walkout during the school day – one minute for each of the 17 lives taken in the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Cobb, however, is refusing to allow its students to do so, and that has drawn a petition from one student that has already gained more than 2,000 signatures. You can read the petition here.
Jack Stewart said he started the petition “as a stand against the lack of recognition Cobb County has rudely displayed toward the survivors of the Parkland shooting.
“Cobb County has said we could show our sympathy in other ways, but we have yet to see anything related to the topic except shaking heads.”
Stewart’s petition said students “have been threatened with detention, in-school suspension, and even out-of-school suspension for participating in the walkout.
“As students whose lives are deeply affected by this shooting, we deserve the opportunity to respectfully protest,” the petition said.
11Alive reached out to Cobb County schools for any updates in their plans regarding the event, and did not receive a reply.
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