Columbine survivor who is now a teacher praises student activism

A survivor of the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School who is now a kindergarten teacher says she’s thankful that students who survived a deadly shooting in Parkland, Fla., last month have brought about a renewed focus on gun control.

Michelle Porter, 37, told ABC News that she planned to speak at a “March for Our Lives” rally in her hometown of Waco, Texas, on Saturday, a decision she made after her students asked her to share her own story of the 1999 attack.

“I’m saddened that we’re still having this conversation and that it’s gotten to the point where it feels like we’re trying to solve a problem at the end of it with gun control instead of looking at it at the beginning and saying, ‘What are the mental health issues? How can we help the people around us that we see suffering?’ ” Porter said.

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“I am thankful that we are discussing gun control and that that is part of the conversation,” she continued.

Porter also said the response to gun violence following the Parkland shooting has been different than after other attacks, and that people seemed to relate to that particular tragedy.

“In the one in Parkland, people have really seemed to — politically and social-activism wise — have seemed to relate,” she said.

The shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Feb. 14 left 17 people dead and 14 others injured. 

The shooting prompted the “March for Our Lives,” a series of protests in cities across the country on Saturday calling for an end to gun violence.