DENVER – A group of Denver-area students is calling for change following this week’s school threat.
They are part of the “March for Our Lives” movement, which formed following the Parkland, Florida shooting in 2018.
On Wednesday, roughly 426,000 students across nine of Colorado’s largest school districts woke up with no where to go. School was cancelled due to the threat, which the FBI deemed credible.
“This morning, I had my moment where I was, like, super angry and then super sad and then really sad and then really angry,” said Drake Middle School 8th-grade student Brady Roland.
While most middle school students would enjoy a day off during the springtime, Roland says she wishes school didn’t have to be canceled due to a threat of violence.
“It felt very real. Like, it felt like something that was going to happen,” Chatfield High School junior Lauren Hill said.
“What I think really scared a lot of students across Colorado is that this one was taken so seriously,” Fairview High School senior Emi Ambory told FOX31.
The students have all been fighting for gun violence prevention since the Parkland shooting. They say they want to create an environment where students feel safe in the classroom.
“I wasn’t born when Columbine happened. I have never known a world in which I was able to go to school and go anywhere without the constant threat of something happening to me,” Hill said.
The students say this latest threat is a wake-up call.
“This is one of those events that I think was, I don’t want to say ‘best-case scenario,’ but it was important for the community, because it gave us an opportunity to revisit the fact that there’s a lot of work left to be done,” Ambory said.
Their primary goal is to use their political voice to create and change laws that will prevent more shootings.
“My friend texted me this morning and she was like, ‘Instead of stopping kids from going to school, why don’t we stop guns from creating so much violence?'” Roland said.
Students involved in March for Our Lives are also fighting for better mental health resources. They believe stopping gun violence begins with helping those who are battling mental health issues.