BOULDER, Colo. -- About 70 high school students who say they are upset about the direction the nation is heading camped out in the school library Thursday night, demanding a visit from Republican Party leaders.

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Students Protest Country's Direction

Students began their protest Thursday night and stayed through Friday morning, when Democratic congressman, U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, visited with them for more than an hour.

"They worried their voices weren't being heard. They wanted to be reassured that what they have to say and feel matters," Udall said. "I heard from these young people, concerns, even fears, that this country is divided and they want to see us come back together. I don't have an easy answer except to listen and acknowledge their concerns and to point out that the great history of this country is that we often have deep disagreements but we find a way to come back together."

Udall also suggested ways for the students to continue to remain politically active, which some of the students said they were, even though they are not old enough to vote.

"I was out there, encouraging people to vote," said student Brian Martens.

The protest involved 106 students, 70 of whom brought sleeping bags and food to last through the weekend. They said they also wanted to meet with representatives of school superintendent George Garcia along with Republicans Gov. Bill Owens and U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, who sponsored the failed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, but those representatives never arrived.

Some of the students in the library placed calls to Republican politicians and left messages.

"We want them to reassure us that our fears are misguided and that the government is doing everything in its power to prevent our futures from being destroyed," said senior Brian Martens, who wore a hand-lettered T-shirt that said he was the "senior executive of the subcommittee on protesting stuff."

The protest was organized after President George W. Bush was re-elected, but students said they are not protesting the election, which they say was won fairly.

They said they are worried about the national debt run up under the Bush administration, military recruitment in schools and the environment.

Teacher James Vacca said he was proud of students for staging the protest and was quick to turn it into a lesson in civics.

"In an age where narcissistic college students riot in an inarticulate drunken stupor, you have students here at Boulder High School, principled, thoughtful and yet scared of four more years of pre-emptive war, the Patriot Act and an increase in militarism at school through the No Child Left Behind Act," he said.

He said the protest was a great way to put into practice peaceful ways to bring attention to important issues of the day.

Most of the students said they just wanted to bring attention to issues that are important to young people.

The protest was peaceful and the students obeyed all the rules set forth by the school principal.

"We played a lot of music, didn't sleep at all," said student Sam Tyler.

"We're protesting our futures, or lack thereof," said senior Travis Moe who works on the students' liberal "Student Worker" newspaper.

Several "Peace" flags hung from the bookshelves in the library. On the wall, crooked black markings proclaimed, "We are the generation that will have to take on and suffer from the burden."

After the meeting with Udall, the students went back to classes on Friday.

One thing is for sure, young voters were out in force this election. It was their largest showing in at least 12 years. More than 20 million Americans between 18 and 29 years old cast ballots during the Nov. 2 election. According to exit polls for the Associated Press, that was the only age group whose majority favored Sen. John Kerry over Bush.