An analysis of the crowd at the March for Our Lives showed that only 10 percent of the marchers were teenagers under 18.
Despite media reports emphasizing the youth of the protesters, especially the Parkland student leaders, the average marcher was a 49-year-old, college-educated woman, reported Dana R. Fisher, a University of Maryland sociology professor who surveyed the crowd at the march.
The massive March 24 protest in Washington, D.C. called on Congress to take action on gun control and was headlined by students and family members connected with the fatal Valentine’s Day school shooting in Parkland, Fla.
‘The March for Our Lives had the allure of a free concert — in fact, the event’s website maintained a list of performers but never listed the speakers,” wrote Fisher. “But it is one thing to turn out to watch Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ariana Grande perform, and quite another to vote in the midterm election in November.”
Fisher estimated that 70 percent of the marchers were women, and 72 percent of marchers held at least a bachelor of arts degree. About 27 percent had never protested before, and of those only 12 percent said they joined over the gun-control issue.
Marchers who had not done much protesting in the past said they were inspired to march to oppose the Trump administration or promote peace.
Organizers estimated around 800,000 participated in the march. That number, if accurate, would beat the Women’s March for the record of the largest one-day protest ever in Washington, D.C.