This past Wednesday, over 2,545 schools across the nation, and at least a dozen schools around the Charlotte area participated in the national #Enough National School Workout.

While a number of schools in Charlotte had organized walkouts with hundreds of students participating, some schools were less than enthusiastic about it.

One school just west of Charlotte, in the town of Belmont, is now making national headlines after two of its students decided to defy school administrators to make their voices heard.

At 10am, 16-year-old Atraiyu Yeldell and his friend, Michael Humphries were the only two students to walk out of Belmont’s Stuart W. Cramer High School, even after being threatened with suspension.

“It was very quiet, and as I approached [the door to exit the school] I heard the administrators calling my name. One of the administrators even tried stepping in front of the door. I just had my mind set on doing what was right,” Yeldell told Vice News.

After walking around the school in 30 degree weather holding signs that read, “Can we live?” and “Save the students”, Yeldell and Humphries returned to the school to await their punishment.

Another North Carolina student, in the town of Wilson, also made national headlines for being the only student in his school to participate in the walkout.

BET tweeted the video that Justin made after walking out of school, which has now received over 110,000 views;

Justin Blackman says he was the only student at his school participating in #NationalSchoolWalkout but it didn’t deter him

(via @JustinIBlackman) pic.twitter.com/7YI6crQJsA

— BET (@BET) March 14, 2018

Using the power of social media and his moment in the spotlight, Justin also created a GoFundMe page to help raise money for his college tuition.

In less than 2 days, he’s already raised over $12,000

What do you think about Wednesday’s school walkout?

Exactly one month after the deadly shooting at a Florida high school, and the same day thousands of students across the country walked out of school in protest, NC Governor Roy Cooper released a new memo calling increased gun regulations across the board.

In the memo, the governor outlined four specific areas he will be working toward changing;

#1 Raising the age of assault weapons purchases

“Until the federal government takes action to discontinue the sale of assault weapons to civilians, North Carolina law should be updated to raise the legal age of sale of these weapons to age 21 and require anyone buying them — at a store, online, or at a gun show — to go through the same background check and permitting process as they would for a handgun.”

#2 Increased security on North Carolina background checks

“To ensure that we are doing our part to make background checks more effective, I’ve directed the State Bureau of Investigation to undertake a comprehensive inventory of the quality of information our state shares with the federal background check system.”

#3 Bump stock ban

“Right now, it appears as though the federal government is moving to ban so-called ‘bump stocks.’ If that effort falls through, we should take action in North Carolina to ban these devices, which turn semi-automatic guns into machine guns.”

#4 Addressing mental illness 

“Finally, it is clear that there needs to be better diagnosis and treatment of people with mental illness, especially those who might turn violent…We can also increase the number of school personnel who receive youth and adult mental health first aid training…”

Governor Cooper closed his memo by saying, “The steps I’ve outlined here are meaningful, common sense changes that we can make to better protect our children and our communities. We can’t wait for Washington to act this time. The safety and security of our kids are on the line, and I urge the General Assembly to join me in taking decisive action to do right by them.”

What are your thoughts on the plan?

This coming Wednesday, at least 2,545 schools across the nation, and at least 9 schools around the Charlotte area will be participating in the national #Enough National School Workout.

According to the organizer EMPOWER, “We demand that Congress enact an immediate resolution declaring gun violence a public health crisis and dedicating federal funding to research solutions and implement violence intervention programs. We demand Congress recognize all forms of gun violence, including violence committed by police.”  

The following 9 Charlotte area are listed on the organizer’s website as participants in the walkout;

– Mooresville Senior High School (Mooresville)
– Lake Norman Charter School (Huntersville)
– Bradley Middle School (Huntersville)
– Whitewater Middle School (Charlotte)
– East Meck High School (Charlotte)
– Nation Ford High School (Fort Mill)
– Community House Middle School (Charlotte)
– Ardrey Kell High School (Charlotte)
– Cuthbertson High School (Waxhaw)
– Parkwood Middle School (Monroe)

What are your thoughts on the upcoming walkout?