Most students walked out peacefully many carrying signs. One student in Minnesota carried his sign that said “Guns don’t kill people, People kill people”
He was escorted off the property and threatened with arrest. Where was his right to free speech and protest.
I am sure there were a few missteps on all sides yesterday. Given that tens of thousands of students marched, I was happily surprised at how infrequent such events were. Score one for participatory democracy in action
The video shows absolutely no context for what happened before or after. You’ll excuse me if I’ll withhold judgment until more comes out about the circumstances surrounding his escort off the property.
I totally agree with you. I would like to see the entire video. I feel that way about all videos that are used in the court of public opinion no matter what. That includes videos of how the police handle certain situations.
In our current climate people are very willing to accept a snippet of a video taken out of context if the snippet supports their own cause. People are willing to accept a statement taken completely out of context if it supports their cause.
I personally like to take things in their entire context then formulate my opinion.
For those interested, the follow up to the school walkout will be the March for our Lives event held on Saturday, March 24th at more than 750 locations worldwide. Further followup is expected to be announced at that event.
Wow that is sad that this level of security is required at your school.
Neither my kids’ rural-exurban HS nor my own NYC high school had anything like that at all.
Sounds like this varies significantly from community to community.
^ this. Our seniors (not lower grades) can leave, in their cars or on foot, to go out to lunch or during a free period. Obviously students move freely from building to building, and athletes to various fields, some off campus.
I could leave my own NYC HS any time of day.
Bummer if really true, our school had some kids who wore 2A shirts and signs and they were totally accepted in the event.
Regarding locked classroom doors and fires - as I recall the Parkland killer knew that pulling the fire alarm would unlock the doors, that’s why he did it.
The fire alarm didn’t unlock the doors. But it DID make the students exit their classrooms as they would for any fire drill. It put a lot of kids right together in the hallways. No need to enter a classroom.
I believe a fire alarm was pulled on at least one college campus where there was a shooting.
When the fire alarm goes off in a school…everyone exits the building as quickly as possible.
ETA…she. Our fire alarms go off…all of the fire doors shut. These are doors between wings of the building to keep fire from spreading. They can only be unlocked with a key. There are multiple building egress in each wing so students can leave. So sort of…these fire door closures in our school might slow down someone planning to go from wing to wing of the school.
Horrible that a safety feature like a fire drill was used to put kids in harms way by someone. Horrible.
My entire family and extended family will be participating on March 24th - March for OUR Lives - all of OUR lives.
Seniors at our high school are also allowed to leave campus whenever they are not in class.
I am very proud of these high school kids. I watched several speeches made at our local walk outs and they were passionate and articulate. Advocating change but also advocating inclusion and kindness to others. I hope that this generation registers to vote and actively particpates in the process.
All of our local walk outs were organized by students. This involved a lot of planning and logistics. There is no better lesson in Civics for everyone who organized and participated.
I am part of the Vietnam War protest generation. We were passionate and frustrated. Noone was listening to us… we were all a bunch of crazies. Nothing changed for a really long time. I look back at our leadership at that time and I am still pissed.
When you have 2500 students, several dozen buses and hundreds of cars all entering or exiting at the same time you need some form of crowd control. And that is usually over 20-30 minutes in the AM/PM.
So naturally the administration should be concerned if that many students decided to “walk out” of school at a specifically designated time. And then started marching thru the streets (we just had a kid hit by a car on his way to school). That could be a very problematic situation. The school is, after all, responsible for the kid’s welfare while they are there. Anyone who thinks we should just let the “kids run free and protest” is out of their mind. They are still kids with questionable judgment capable of getting into all kids of mischief.
Tens of thousands of students just managed to protest the questionable judgment of adult lawmakers peacefully and safely yesterday.
@emilybee yes standard protocol in Ca schools. Locked so outsiders cannot enter a classroom but not locked inside. Doors can still be opened from inside. This was instituted a few years ago in my district as added lockdown measure.
kids run free and protest" is out of their mind
Well my students were organized, calm, thoughtful and safe at all times. They were models citizens!
Now parents dropping their kids off in the morning, ignoring drop off zones, speed limits and general common sense…not so much. I’ll trust these kids more than some adults any day thank you very much.
And to those who say, “what’s wrong with kids these days” why don’t you try listening to them instead of talking at them. Respect begets respect.
Ours walked out to the parking lot and basically set up their rally on an athletic practice field. They worked with the school administration to make it happen.
Sounds like you have a somewhat dysfunctional school district.
Wow. Because they looked at the situation – Came up with a workable solution – And everything proceeded safely – They are dysfunctional? Got it.
You’re obviously not talking about the tide pod eaters.
Except for these knuckleheads.
http://www.wsmv.com/story/37727075/antioch-students-tear-down-flag-brawl-during-peaceful-protest
Your momma, I am certain we can find examples on all sides of a few people behaving poorly. But they were the exception, not the rule, to a massive national event involving many thousands of people. So yes, apparently it can be done safely. There is no need to insult the young people. Many have shown more maturity, control and wisdom than their adult counterparts