On Wednesday, thousands of students across the U.S. walked out of their classrooms as part of National School Walkout Day. Held on the one-month anniversary of the horrific shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, students participating in the nationwide demonstration protested gun violence, demanded stricter gun-control laws, and called on lawmakers to make school safety a priority. Many students — including those in elementary, middle, and high school, as well as college and even medical schools — also made inspiring signs that they carried while protesting. Here are some of the most powerful signs.
The one in which memes meet gun-control:
“Fix this before I text my mom from under a desk”:
Signs with the names of the 17 people killed during the Florida school shooting:
Bringing Black Panther into the protest:
“Girls clothing in schools is regulated more than guns in America”:
An actual peace sign made by students:
Signs that stressed the importance of a child’s life:
Some students’ signs stressed how much they’d rather study for an exam or write an essay than be killed in a shooting:
“School is supposed to be safe”:
Some signs had sobering statistics of the number of students killed and injured in gun violence in America:
“18th century laws can’t regulate 21st century weapons”:
Some signs carried the names of other schools and towns affected by shootings, including Columbine and Newtown:
There was also a sign that called for “books not bullets”: