Students don't want to learn in a 'COVID petri dish.' They're walking out to prove their point.

“We believe that WE should be the ones to execute, steer, and decide what is best for ourselves, our lives, our health, and our safety.”Around lunchtime Tuesday, hundreds of New York City students walked out of class to call for remote learning options during a wave of cases as the omicron variant rapidly spreads through the city.Samantha Farrow, a 16-year-old student organizer at Stuyvesant High School, called it an “uplifting moment” and said she felt less alone in her fears about COVID cases in schools.Before winter break, she cried to her mother, anxious about going to school with surging cases, especially while living with an immunocompromised family member. “We have ideas about what can help make this better.”KIDS ARE GETTING COVID:How the omicron surge is impacting child hospitalizations, school safetySeveral student activists told USA TODAY walkouts nationwide have offered hope and a sense of solidarity after they've felt sidelined by local and district officials in conversations about COVID in schools."It's encouraging to see that we're not the only ones fighting, that there are people in other states who are fighting for the same cause and we have each other's backs," Farrow said.In Oakland, students organized a sick-in Thursday and created a petition signed by over 1,200 students.