Women’s March Youth EMPOWER is calling for students, teachers, school administrators, parents and allies to take part in a #NationalSchoolWalkout for 17 minutes at 10am across every time zone on March 14, 2018 to protest Congress’ inaction to do more than tweet thoughts and prayers in response to the gun violence plaguing our schools and neighborhoods. We need action.

Chabot Elementary School is joining the student-led national movement for stricter gun control laws by participating in the national school walkout to demand Congress pass legislation to keep us safe from gun violence at our schools, on our streets and in our homes.

Because of the young age of our children, this walkout will be parent-led. To avoid scaring the younger children, we will frame the walkout as “standing up for safety in our school community” instead of speaking directly about school shootings. The walkout will take place on the upper yard and will officially include only 4th and 5th graders, but children and families in the lower grades are welcome to participate as well. During the walkout, children will be given the opportunity to write postcards to members of Congress. We will also supply poster-size pre-written letters to members of Congress that the children may sign and/or add to.

Chabot parents feel inspired by the courage of the Parkland students and we think our children will be similarly inspired to learn how those students have discovered the power of their voices. It will be an opportunity to talk about ways to keep our community safe and to empower our kids to use their voices to effect change. We believe Congress must take meaningful action to keep us safe and pass federal gun reform legislation that address the public health crisis of gun violence.

Join us in saying #ENOUGH!