They say they are inspired by the students at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida. It was a little more than a month ago, when a former student killed 17 people, students and teachers, in one of the country's deadliest school

shootings. "It was a live feed of the Parfkland School. And all you could see was children running out. And it just made me so emotional. Because it could be any of us," said Julia Bate, one of the Bapst students who joined the protest..

Friday morning at 10 o'clock, nearly 75 students chose to walk out of school. Their message to the community and congress was simple. They've had enough school violence. And, they say, it's time to do something about it. "Youth voices

matter. And we want to show congress that by all the schools in the area demonstrating that all the way up here in Maine we still care about gun violence. And all the students want to be heard on this issue," said protest organizer Emma O'Connor.

The head of the school, Mel McKay said an assembly was being held when the students were given the choice whether to walk out. "I can't vote yet. But I can stand up for what I believe in. I walked out today to show congress that something

needs to be done," Bate said. The april 1999 shooting in Columbine marked a turning point for violence on school campuses across the county. "Since  Columbne nothing has happened. The Parkman students really inspired me, said O'Connoir.

If she had the chance to talk to Maine's  U.S. Senators, " I would personally say to them that stricter gun laws need to happen. Or children are going to keep dying," said O'Connor..

An important part of the protest is the fact that these students want to let politicians know, they'll soon be old enough to vote.