Wellwishers have been crowdfunding to send pizza to 225 students at a Pennsylvania school who were given detention for taking part in protests against school shootings.

Students at Pennridge high school took part in a national school walkout on 14 March against the wishes of the school board. The board warned pupils in advance that anybody taking part in the protest would receive the standard punishment for skipping class – a Saturday morning in detention.

Anna Sophie Tinneny, one of the students who helped to organise the protests and get the message out on social media, told the Guardian: “Two hundred and twenty-five students walked out of the front doors for 17 minutes of silence and a few speeches afterwards. As we walked into the school, we were put in single-file lines and had to sign up for detention before returning to class.”



The students then turned the detention into another opportunity to protest. They attended the session on Saturday wearing signs bearing the names of those killed at the Parkland school shooting in Florida, and turned the detention into a sit-in.



Play Video 0:21 Students turn detention for anti-gun walkout into silent protest – video

The students’ fate caught the eye of social media users and the local community rallied round. Some went to the school before the detention started, bringing doughnuts, coffee, snacks and signs in support of the protest.

California-based Minette Nelson, who helps run the youth politics outreach campaign EighteenX18, arranged to have 20 pizzas brought to the school when the two-hour detention finished at 10am. People have also been using the #Pizza4Protesters hashtag to support a crowdfunding appeal to have pizza delivered to the school for the next round of detentions.



The students had tried to secure permission for the protest before walking out. Tinneny said: “We were crushed when we learned that our school board felt like the walkout was inappropriate for us to take part in. Several students went to a school board meeting and tried to negotiate for a way to do the walkout, but they were very inflexible.”

Success of students' gun control walkout bodes well for March for Our Lives Read more

The school had organised its own event to commemorate the victims of the shooting to coincide with the national protests. In a statement the school’s superintendent, Dr Jacqueline A Rattigan, said: “We are proud of the way our students conducted themselves during today’s silent remembrance assembly. Approximately 800 students attended and sat in silence for 17 minutes while viewing a slideshow in honour of the victims.

“It was a moving experience for those who participated. About 225 students, including a few who were accompanied by their parents, chose to walk out of school to hold their own activity. Those who did so unaccompanied by a parent will face consequences.”

Because so many pupils are being punished, the detentions are scheduled to continue over the next two weekends. Another student, Sean Jenkins, interviewed by Dazed, said: “By this point, they’re a badge of honour for us; they represent how passionate we are about the issue. We’ll stand up for what is right, regardless of consequences. Seeing fellow students around the country be killed by gun violence is heartbreaking.”



Their actions have not met with universal approval, however. Tinneny said: “There’s been a lot of online backlash from classmates who chose not to walk out and other community members. Some think we walked because we want to repeal the second amendment, which isn’t true.

Quick guide Mass school shootings in the US Show Hide How many have there been so far this year? There have been eight shootings at US schools this year that resulted in injury or death, including 17 dead on Wednesday. In December, the fifth anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shooting, in which 20 children and six teachers died, was marked by congressional Republicans seeking to weaken restrictions and make it easier to carry a concealed weapon across state lines. Donald Trump promised to support the National Rifle Association (NRA) and oppose limits to gun ownership. Key statistics 97 children have been killed and 126 injured in mass shootings in schools since 1989. These are the three worst incidents: 14 February 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School, Florida 14 December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary, Connecticut 20 April 1999 Columbine High School, Colorado Why is the NRA so powerful? In 2017, the NRA spent at least $4.1m on lobbying. In the 2016 US elections, it spent $14.4m supporting 44 candidates who won, and $34.4m opposing 19 who lost, according to CRP. But “the real source of its power comes from voters”, said Adam Winkler, a UCLA professor of constitutional law. The 145-year-old organisation claims 5 million active members and Prof Robert Spitzer of the State University of New York at Cortland said it has “a very powerful ability to mobilise a grassroots support ”. The public view 79%: Proportion of Americans who favour banning assault-style weapons, according to a recent poll 84%: Democratic voters who said that gun laws should be ‘a lot’ or ‘somewhat’ stricter than at present 72%: Republican voters who agreed that ‘the benefits of gun ownership outweigh the risks’

Photograph: Allen G. Breed/AP

“We want to make sure that individuals who have indicated that they might be the next mass shooter do not have access to a firearm. We want to make sure that no one but military and police personnel can have a military-style assault rifle. We want to make sure that the tragedies of mass shootings are not forgotten. We want to make sure that nothing like them ever happens again.”

The fundraising and public support for the protesters does not seem to have had any impact yet on the school’s decision to penalise the students. “The school has shown no signs of backing down about the detentions,” said Tinneny. “The board members seem just as determined as ever that we be punished, which is fine. We knew what we signed up for by walking out.”