This has been a really big week for student expression. It has reached even national levels of importance. It has been the headline for news. But it's not even about college.
Rather, high school student self-expression and protest has taken the nation by storm. This certainly diverges from what one normally expects when hearing student protest. And this is meant to be a blog that is dedicated to examining the issues of college students, but every recent news article is dominated by the protest that just occurred. And, to be quite honest, I would be remiss to neglect something so important to student protest.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, it's pretty simple. Across the country, students filed out of their classes at 10:00 am and remained outside of their classes for 17 minutes. It was a symbolic 17 minutes for the 17 lives lost during the Florida shooting.
But, that's not all it was. The walkout was also a political protest for gun control. Because of the political undertones, there was a split reaction to the movement. Several schools collaborated with the students, several did not outright condone the students but did not stop them, and several indicated that there would be disciplinary measures taken for those who left.
Those who stayed gave a few different reasons for their decision. The most prominent two reasons were likely fear of getting in trouble and no desire to partake in the political message of stronger gun control.
The students who did leave exhibited a myriad of different expressions. Students created political signs and chanted for stronger gun control or chanted against the Trump administration. Some students met with community members and their parents to create a community silence. Some students took a knee in respect for the lives lost. But for many, there was simply silence.
In terms of looking at the response of the school administration to the students' expression, I have to say that I am really proud of my high school and think it was the best compromise. I'm not sure if it's appropriate to put the whole letter, so I'll quote some of what I think is good.
"At this time, our High School Administration has been working with a group of student leaders who wish to organize an opportunity to honor the 17 lives lost on February 17 with a quiet 17-minute remembrance....Students will not be disciplined for honoring the young lives lost, as long as students remain peaceful....We also understand that not all students are interested in participating nor will want to leave their classes. Students who do not wish to participate will stay in class with their teachers until the end of the period"
This is all I'm willing to quote, but it's a whole letter about the subject which outlines the school creating opportunities to talk with adults about the pressing issues and further collaboration with students for the upcoming national protests. The reason that I think this is one of the best responses to the situation. It not only permits the student self-expression, but it also works to create the safest and most effective form of it. It does not punish the students who want to participate. This is important. Although it's a cliche, high school students are the future of the country. It's important to let the high school students know that their ideas are important and can be implemented. What I also really like is that it mentions the students who do not wish to participate do not have to participate. It does not portray them negatively and it recognizes that not wanting to participate is a valid form of self-expression as well. I know it sounds like I'm really just talking about my high school, but there were several schools who also collaborated with students across the country. The school administration working with the students demonstrates a really effective means of protecting student expression and the administration's interests/reputation. This is what is so seldom seen in college that it almost seems colleges can look at these high schools for ideas.
But as I mentioned above, this is a blog about college student expression. So, I will point out that in Florida a law has just been passed that states colleges can't have restrictions on free speech anywhere. I think this is a definite step in the wrong direction. The law means that there can't even be designated safe spaces and that the university can face legal consequences for them. It just seems wrong that a university can't create a specific area that is free of offensive language. I don't understand why there must be a law against the creation of safe spaces. Even if you're not a fan of space spaces, it seems strange that they can be banned at universities. One could just avoid the designated safe space areas and not have any issue with them. The unfortunate aspect about this is that a law is going to be really difficult to counter, so this seems like a loss for Florida universities.
Furthermore, there was an interesting poll done by Gallup that is summarized very nicely by The New York Times. I don't want to summarize everything, especially because it's a short article and is succinct, but I will point out a couple of points. A small majority of students states that they believe inclusivity is more important than free speech. However, an overwhelming majority claim they prefer a learning environment that is "open and allows even offensive speech" to an environment that is "positive and prohibits some speech." To me, this just indicates that college students are not really sure what they want as these two responses seemingly contradict each other. What will be really interesting is to see what the responses to these questions are in years to come and see if there are any significant changes. For now, I think it's worth each of us to think hard about where we align with these tough questions about freedom of speech and self-expression.
Rather, high school student self-expression and protest has taken the nation by storm. This certainly diverges from what one normally expects when hearing student protest. And this is meant to be a blog that is dedicated to examining the issues of college students, but every recent news article is dominated by the protest that just occurred. And, to be quite honest, I would be remiss to neglect something so important to student protest.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, it's pretty simple. Across the country, students filed out of their classes at 10:00 am and remained outside of their classes for 17 minutes. It was a symbolic 17 minutes for the 17 lives lost during the Florida shooting.
Credit to Laurel WhiteView out of my window of #NationalWalkoutDay student protest in Madison. pic.twitter.com/jeeq2sCVoo— Laurel White (@lkwhite) March 14, 2018
But, that's not all it was. The walkout was also a political protest for gun control. Because of the political undertones, there was a split reaction to the movement. Several schools collaborated with the students, several did not outright condone the students but did not stop them, and several indicated that there would be disciplinary measures taken for those who left.
Those who stayed gave a few different reasons for their decision. The most prominent two reasons were likely fear of getting in trouble and no desire to partake in the political message of stronger gun control.
The students who did leave exhibited a myriad of different expressions. Students created political signs and chanted for stronger gun control or chanted against the Trump administration. Some students met with community members and their parents to create a community silence. Some students took a knee in respect for the lives lost. But for many, there was simply silence.
In terms of looking at the response of the school administration to the students' expression, I have to say that I am really proud of my high school and think it was the best compromise. I'm not sure if it's appropriate to put the whole letter, so I'll quote some of what I think is good.
"At this time, our High School Administration has been working with a group of student leaders who wish to organize an opportunity to honor the 17 lives lost on February 17 with a quiet 17-minute remembrance....Students will not be disciplined for honoring the young lives lost, as long as students remain peaceful....We also understand that not all students are interested in participating nor will want to leave their classes. Students who do not wish to participate will stay in class with their teachers until the end of the period"
This is all I'm willing to quote, but it's a whole letter about the subject which outlines the school creating opportunities to talk with adults about the pressing issues and further collaboration with students for the upcoming national protests. The reason that I think this is one of the best responses to the situation. It not only permits the student self-expression, but it also works to create the safest and most effective form of it. It does not punish the students who want to participate. This is important. Although it's a cliche, high school students are the future of the country. It's important to let the high school students know that their ideas are important and can be implemented. What I also really like is that it mentions the students who do not wish to participate do not have to participate. It does not portray them negatively and it recognizes that not wanting to participate is a valid form of self-expression as well. I know it sounds like I'm really just talking about my high school, but there were several schools who also collaborated with students across the country. The school administration working with the students demonstrates a really effective means of protecting student expression and the administration's interests/reputation. This is what is so seldom seen in college that it almost seems colleges can look at these high schools for ideas.
But as I mentioned above, this is a blog about college student expression. So, I will point out that in Florida a law has just been passed that states colleges can't have restrictions on free speech anywhere. I think this is a definite step in the wrong direction. The law means that there can't even be designated safe spaces and that the university can face legal consequences for them. It just seems wrong that a university can't create a specific area that is free of offensive language. I don't understand why there must be a law against the creation of safe spaces. Even if you're not a fan of space spaces, it seems strange that they can be banned at universities. One could just avoid the designated safe space areas and not have any issue with them. The unfortunate aspect about this is that a law is going to be really difficult to counter, so this seems like a loss for Florida universities.
Furthermore, there was an interesting poll done by Gallup that is summarized very nicely by The New York Times. I don't want to summarize everything, especially because it's a short article and is succinct, but I will point out a couple of points. A small majority of students states that they believe inclusivity is more important than free speech. However, an overwhelming majority claim they prefer a learning environment that is "open and allows even offensive speech" to an environment that is "positive and prohibits some speech." To me, this just indicates that college students are not really sure what they want as these two responses seemingly contradict each other. What will be really interesting is to see what the responses to these questions are in years to come and see if there are any significant changes. For now, I think it's worth each of us to think hard about where we align with these tough questions about freedom of speech and self-expression.
I love how I was able to see so many schools across America protesting for the lives lost in Florida. The students do have a voice. Just because they are minors does not mean these issues don't affect them and they should be able to contribute and show they care about the matters of gun control.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you covered something that happened literally yesterday. I watched many different snapchat stories from friends who are still in high school and saw a crazy amount of protestors. My school similar to yours was neutral and respectful of both sides of the argument as well as students who didn't have an argument and stayed out of it. I liked how you connected this to safe spaces in college universities which is also a very current issue.
ReplyDeleteThis post was really interesting! My high school and high schools around my home town also participated in this event. At first, I was a little confused as to why my high school was participating in a walk out, but at soon found out that it was because of this national event. This made sense because I also found out that neighboring high schools also did the same! I think it is really nice that high schools around the United States are making the effort to walk out in the honor of those who passed in the Florida shooting. It is extremely symbolic and allows voices to be heard in a different way. My high school has also walked out in the past when trying to stand up for the teachers who were going to get cut. So overall, I really like the idea of walkouts and what they do. Nice blog!
ReplyDeleteI think that the school walk outs were a very important step towards standing up against gun violence in the U.S.. Unfortunately, we have seen a lot of gun related tragedy in the past few years, and U.S. citizens are finally taking action rather than simply talking about the issue, which is very important if we ever want to see change. I also appreciate that most if not all of the protests remained peaceful and focused on mourning the lives of those lost in the school shooting.
ReplyDeleteHi Matt! My old high school also did a walk-out in support of stronger gun laws and in remembrance of the lives lost in Florida. However, my high school administration was not as kind as yours. They allowed the students to organize the walk-out, but made the students remain in the gym. At the end of the protest, the administration decided it would be a good idea to encourage the students to come together in that capacity of numbers for school events, like football games. I think this really missed the mark, and a lot of my friends from home are really angry.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I think that it is amazing that high school students are starting to realize the amount of influence they have and how their voices can really affect a movement. It's about time students realize they ARE the future! Great post!!!!!
I think that you’re right to cover this even though it is featured on the news! As somebody who was affected personally by the shooting, I’m proud of all of the participating high schools and students and especially your high school for their support after I saw something disappointing on the news this morning. This morning, I saw that students who did the walkout at a high school in the Bellefonte area were punished for doing so, as the school’s policy states that there are repercussions for any type of student protest and that the students are aware of this policy. Since as you said students are the future of our country, I think they should recieve the support for their teachers and leaders to take a stand for what they believe in. I wish all students were able to participate without fear, and I’m grateful that so many people across the nation stood silently for a minute for my friend and the 16 others who lost their lives that day.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you talked about the walk out and how your high school remained neutral. I believe that was the right way to handle it, working with students. My high school however, had a very different approach. At first they were going to force everyone to walk out regardless of whether or not they wanted to participate, then they decided if you wanted to participate, it would be an assembly, not a walk out. Finally, they came to the decision that if you walked out you would get Saturday detention for it. I don't feel like any of these solutions were how it should have been handled. I also like how you then connected it to college campuses with the passage of the Florida law about safe spaces.
ReplyDeleteIt is inspiring to see mobilization of students from across the country around this issue and the surge in political awareness and civic action within cohorts of future voters. I was particularly moved by the students who were the only ones from their schools to participate in the walkout. I saw one picture of a kindergartner with a sign that read "Guns are cruel not cool" who was the only one in his class to walk out. Everyone who has participated in these events has inspired me to be more engaged and contribute more to my community.
ReplyDeleteSeeing all of these high school students working together to spread the message that gun violence will not be tolerated was pretty incredible. And to read your post about how many of the school administrations were on board and working together with the students was also nice to hear about. I think that if we continue to presssure lawmakers about the way we stand on this issue, we might be able to get a policy change in the near future. I also agree with you that banning free spaces from colleges isn't right and there's no for good reason for them to do this.
ReplyDelete