On Wednesday, National Walkout Day took place across the nation, but for five Ruston High School students, it came with consequences.

The day called for students to walk out of school for 17-minutes - one minute for each of the 17 people killed at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School one month ago. The day was organized to protest what they see as a lack of action being taken to keep schools safe.

Conner Little and Bailey Montgomery were two of the five students written up. They both told KNOE they were disappointed in their administration.

They said administration announced over the intercom Wednesday morning that they will be conducting 17 seconds of silence instead of walking out and that if any students walked out they would face consequences. The students said they knew they would face punishments but they felt it was important to stand up for what they believe in.

"We made this decision because gun violence is an issue in this country. And we decided that it’s time for congressmen to take action. And the youth are a big part of that and we just wanted to inspire our youth that they have a voice and to let them know that they can speak out when they see injustice," Montgomery said.

"It made me really disappointed in our administration. I’m not trying to bash Ruston High or anything like that, but it does seem unfair that we are being told that we can’t stand up for what we believe in, even if it’s not the popular opinion in this area, this region specifically. Why can’t we stand up for what we believe in?" Little said.

Lincoln Parish Superintendent Mike Milstead said he and his schools chose the option they thought was best for their students. Little and Montgomery said they both received a pink slip telling them they had extended hours after school on Thursday, but they were not certain if that would be all the punished entailed.

KNOE also received this message from one of the students who tried to walk out:

"Tried to walk out of class today to participate in a NATIONWIDE protest against gun violence and the 17 lives that were lost in the recent school shooting. Instead Ruston High told my fellow students and I that we had to stay in class, and if we didn’t we would be written up. When it was time to walk out of class, the people who were trying to participate were blocked by policemen and administrators at the doors. When 3 of my classmates and I walked of class we were chased down and told to go back to class. 5 STUDENTS were able to walk out of class today and successfully participate in the protest. They were handed a referral once it ended. Ruston High’s priorities are definitely not straight. They would rather spend more time taking students out of class to watch sports players sign a single sheet of paper than take 17 MINUTES out of class to show respect to the 17 lives that were injured and lost in the recent school shootings. This is absolutely mind-blowing to me. Thanks, Ruston High for setting my priorities straight."