Metro area students plan walkout as day of action

Royal Oak High student Elliot Widd will join hundreds of other students walking out of school Friday — the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre — and the 16-year-old believes the day will be different than walkouts held last month over school violence. First, Friday’s walkout will last for most of the day instead of 17 minutes. But more importantly, Widd says, students in several Metro Detroit districts are leaving their school campuses and converging on downtown Royal Oak for a rally, where they will call for an end to gun violence in schools through reform. Last month, several Parkland high school students met with Michigan lawmakers on Capitol Hill including Reps. Paul Mitchell, R-Dryden, and Brenda Lawrence, D-Southfield. Students walking out of school can bring change, Winkler said. To the extent they can contribute to a mobilization of gun control forces, that could have a huge impact on November election,” he said.