Instead of walking out of school, students at SC school had gun-rights talk with politician

While other high school students were participating in a nationwide classroom walkout on Wednesday, students at one Upstate S.C. high school stayed inside to hear from a political candidate about gun rights.

The Anderson Independent Mail reports that some students at Powdersville High School sat down with state Rep. Joshua Putnam, R-Anderson. Putnam told the students about his support for the Second Amendment, while some students expressed a desire for more gun control.

Reporters were barred from the school during the walkout time.

Putnam, who is also running for S.C. secretary of state, told the Independent Mail he was contacted by students who wanted to write to legislators about school-safety issues in the wake of a high school shooting in Florida last month that killed 17 people. Putnam asked school administrators if he could come on campus to speak.

More than a dozen students joined Putnam on campus after saying they wanted to do something during the national 17-minute walkout period. Putnam said he spent around three hours on campus talking to students.

Putnam said he heard students' suggestions, including having more regular drills for reacting to shooters. Other students talked about increasing access to mental-health programs and what they could do to express their concerns to administrators. The Republican said they had "good discussions" about guns.

"What I got is that these students are paying attention," Putnam said. "They know what they're talking about."

Most Powdersville students opted to stay inside during the protest time, one told the Independent Mail. Many held "sit-ins" in their regular classrooms, where they discussed school safety, took surveys and participated in group discussions.

One Powdersville student briefly walked out of class Wednesday, the paper reported. The student was not cited for a disciplinary violation.

That wasn't the case in other S.C. schools. Two students at Bluffton High School told the Hilton Head Island Packet they were given all-day, in-school suspension for taking part in the walk-out.

This story was originally published March 16, 2018 at 10:09 AM with the headline "Instead of walking out of school, students at SC school had gun-rights talk with politician."