Georgia students walk out against gun violence

Students form a ring around Inman Middle School in Atlanta. Said Kevin Maxwell, the school principal: “The students had to tell me a specific plan. They had to plan it minute by minute.” He said his top job “has nothing to do with acadmics: it is keeping students and staff safe. That’s what I think about from the moment they get off the bus in the morning to the moment they leave in the afternoon.”

A high school shooting in Florida led to a national student walkout that swept up students in Georgia, some with the support of their school districts and others facing threats of sanctions.

“They are shutting down students who want to stand up and be civically responsible and be a leader for this movement. They basically said that’s irrelevant to you,” said Katie Friedman, a recent graduate of Walton High School, who protested outside the school Wednesday morning in support of her younger brother there, a sophomore.

The Cobb County School District angered some parents with its stern warning days ahead of the walkout. “Students who choose to disrupt the normal operation of a school may be subject to consequences,” a message displayed prominently on the district website said.

The district didn’t respond to allegations that students at some high schools were blocked from walking out.

Cobb leans Republican. The mood couldn’t have been more different in the Democratic stronghold of the city of Atlanta.

HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM Students react as 17 Florida high school shooting victims’ names are called during a protest calling for action on gun violence outside Lakeside High School on Wednesday.