Dozens of students from Lenoir City High School walked out of class Tuesday morning to talk about their concerns about school security.
Around 9:45 a.m., the students gathered around the flag pole and took turns speaking. They remembered the lives lost at recent school shootings, and talked about ways to end hate and violence.
"Our society, it's almost become like normal for gun violence and school shootings and stuff to happen, and we just don't want it to happen anymore," sophomore Nick Moser said.
Many students spoke about acceptance and not judging others because they are different. One student said we should stop judging each other and come together. Stop the bullying.
Another student talked about the importance of listening to each other.
The students are also concerned about the security at their own school. They said no one should be afraid to go to class, but they are.
"I felt safer outside today than I do locked in my classroom," senior Alix Godfrey said.
Some students are hoping for additional security patrols around campus, while others feel there should be some sort of security screenings before people enter the school.
"Something small ... like we put in a new way for us to get in the doors, or protocol or something that helps us get to where we're going," junior Ashley Boser said. "It's not always about long term, it's what can you do to make people feel safe right now."
Students said they want to work with school staff and know they are being heard.
“[We want to be] able to compromise with the faculty and the administrators so that the next time something like this happens and is important enough to make a protest about it they are willing to work with us as well," Boser said.
Principal Chip Orr told 10News the administration knew students were planning to walk out, but were told it would be a 17 minute demonstration in honor of the 17 school shooting victims in Florida.
The gathering continued for almost two hours, with about 100 students participating at its peak.
School administrators are working with them, allowing the students the opportunity to speak.
"We take their concerns seriously, and especially one as basic as safety," Orr said. "We want them to know that we feel that that's one of the most important things we do on a given day is try to make them feel safe."
Orr said those safety measures include keeping doors locked during the day, having visitors check in and leave their IDs at the front desk, and having two school resource officers on campus.
Many of the students went inside the building around noon to have lunch. About a dozen students stayed outside into the afternoon.
Students were not punished for their participation.
If they missed class, they were just marked absent.
"They had something they wanted to express, and we were going to let them express it," Orr said. "Because it's important they do that for the right reasons. Sometimes it takes a little social disruption to get the right people's attention."