The idea for a National School Walkout on Friday, April 20, came from a 16-year-old girl and was prompted by the Feb. 14 massacre at a Parkland, Florida, high school that left 17 dead.
From that incident, high school sophomore Lane Murdock decided that enough was enough — mass shootings were becoming too commonplace.
"In the time I've been in high school we've had the Pulse, Las Vegas, and now, [the Parkland] shooting," Murdock said, according to NPR.
On Feb. 14, the same day of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Murdock drafted a Change.org petition calling for a National School Walkout on the anniversary of the April 20, 1999, shooting at Colorado’s Columbine High School. So far, the petition has garnered more than a quarter-million signatures.
Murdock was born in 2002, three years after the Columbine massacre.
On Friday at 10 a.m. local time, students are instructed to walk out of their classes to observe a moment of silence for all shooting victims. What happens after that is up to each individual school participating in the walkout, according to CNN.
Murdock recalled that her own lack of empathy for the 17 Parkland victims affected her the most.
"When I found out about the shooting at MSD, I remember I didn't have a huge reaction. And because of that, I knew I needed to change myself, and we needed to change this country," she said, CNN reported. "We should be horrified, and we're not anymore. It's American culture."
The National School Walkout’s website provided a sample agenda for Friday. It can vary from returning to class after observing the moment of silence to all-day voter registration activities.
Many people on social media were supportive of the walkout.
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