CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The demand for stricter gun control laws will take center stage at high schools across the United States on Wednesday.
In the weeks since the deadly Parkland, Fla., school shooting, survivors have turned their grief into action.
They’ll get support from students right here in Charlotte who are expected to participate in a national school walkout Wednesday morning.
The walkouts are planned for 10 a.m. and will last 17 minutes, one minute for each victim in the Florida shooting. NBC Charlotte reached out to five local school districts, including CMS, and all of them acknowledged planned participation from their students.
The idea for Wednesday’s school walkout began with EMPOWER, the youth branch of the Women’s March. According to the organization’s website, nearly 3,000 walkouts are planned across the country.
The group is marching for a ban on assault weapons, universal background checks before guns are sold and laws that would allow courts to disarm people who show signs of violent behavior.
“Some people are saying we’re just kids, that we don’t know what we’re talking about, but we’re the future generation,” one Myers Park High School student said. “We’re the ones going to school, living with some of the fears of having an active shooter, and we should be taken seriously.”
High school junior Mia Salvatore is hoping to get lawmakers attention.
"Whenever something unexpected happens at school, whenever we have a fire drill we didn’t know about or something, we always think the worst is going to happen," Salvatore said.
To pass stricter gun laws, she believes will provide some peace of mind for her classmates and teachers.
Students from across the Carolinas plan to walk out, including those from several local school districts.
CMS, Gaston County, Iredell Statesville, Rock Hill and Union County schools all have plans to allow their students to participate, as long as the walkouts meet a few basic guidelines.
“We want to support them,” Union County Schools spokeswoman Tahira Stalberte said. “It has to be in an orderly fashion. We will follow our plans that we have for keeping all kids safe.”
CMS tells us they sent an email to their principals asking that students “not be subject to suspension or other disciplinary action for absence as a result of their respectful participation in these planned events.”
CMS also asks that students not leave campus for their own safety and security.
Recently, a number of universities across the country promised that admissions won’t be impacted for students who are disciplined for walking out. UNC, Duke, NC State and South Carolina are among those schools.
Not all school districts are allowing a walkout. Horry County Schools in South Carolina said it presents a safety concern. They also said they’re working with student leaders to come up with a safe alternative.
NBC Charlotte's Rachel Brown contributed to this report.