Gun violence protests may be a pivotal moment for the generation coming up behind millennials. Events that occur when we're young can have an outsized impact on shaping our political outlook.

Organizers of a walkout planned for Friday said students at Champaign high schools are being forced to choose between participating in the civic demonstration around gun violence and attending prom. The walkout and subsequent events planned at the Independent Media Center in Urbana are part of a nationwide day of action around gun violence on April 20 — the anniversary of the Columbine school shooting.

A student organized town hall on gun violence attracted a crowd of more than 100 people to the Champaign Public Library Thursday night. The event was hosted by students from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and five area high schools.

Hundreds of thousands of students, teachers, parents and victims rallied in Washington, D.C., and across the country on Saturday to demand tougher gun control measures, part of a wave of political activism among students and others impacted by school shootings.

Students from eight high schools in the Champaign-Urbana area will stage a demonstration Saturday to call for stronger gun control measures. The protest is one of hundreds of similar events happening across the country, including Washington D.C., under the moniker “March For Our Lives.”