Dozens of Oak Harbor High School students, some dressed in orange and others carrying signs, walked out of class on Thursday afternoon to protest gun violence.

The walkout started off with a moment of silence for the lives recently lost at the recent mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, N.Y.

“We marched out of school today not to skip class,” said Junior Purcell, a freshman who organized the walkout.

More than ten students gave speeches to the gathered crowd. Many spoke about their frustration at the frequency of school shootings in America and expressed how they lived in fear for their lives and the lives of their siblings.

“The words ‘school’ and ‘shooting’ should never be in the same sentence,” said one student, which was met with applause and cheering from the crowd.

Another student pointed out that America had over 45,000 gun-related deaths in 2020 – the highest on record.

“The gun laws in this country are weaker than the people who made them and that’s saying something,” she said.

Many other students agreed that stricter gun laws were the solution to the problem of frequent mass shootings in America.

“I’ve been protesting mass shootings since sixth grade,” Purcell said in an interview. “As a student, I feel unsafe coming to school every single day.”

The shooting in Uvalde that killed 19 children and two teachers made the issue more urgent.

“Some of my friends don’t even want to come to school anymore,” he said.

Purcell also expressed concern that Oak Harbor High School has too many entrances, and he felt the building needed more security.

“I just want to say we are all tired. We are all frustrated. We are all angry,” he said.

Teachers, school administrators and a police officer were present but did not intervene. After about 20 minutes, the crowd dispersed.

High School Principal Nate Salisbury noted in a written statement that conversations about school safety, gun regulations and mental health have swept the nation since the tragedy at Robb Elementary School, prompting students to respond in various ways. He wrote that nearly 100 Oak Harbor students took part in the peaceful protest Thursday.

“This event was created and organized by the students and created little disruption to our school environment,” he said. “We are proud of our students who are making their views known on all sides of this issue and speaking up about changes they want in our society. Learning to channel their passions through peaceful advocacy about issues that impact them can be a powerful growth experience for our students. We will continue to work with our student leaders to minimize the impact any of these demonstrations may have on the school day.”