Student protests walk a fine line
Students across the country staged a school walkout steeped in political protest – an event driven by frustration and anger because things were not going the “right” way. And if the situation didn’t soon change, the students stated, there would surely be more victims.
Sounds like an apt description of the nationwide school walkout which occurred this week to protest gun violence. But it’s not.
It actually described the walkouts staged in November 2016 after Donald Trump was elected president.
“Their anger and frustration were (that) their ideals didn’t line up with who they perceived got into the government … they needed time to process that,” stated the principal of a Seattle high school, where hundreds of students staged a walkout.
Sorry, but that’s unacceptable. It is ridiculous for high school students to protest a free and fair election (and stop right there: the Russians did not affect the outcome) by walking out of class, solely because they didn’t like the outcome. It smacks of entitlement (“how dare anyone but my candidate win”), intolerance (“if my candidate isn’t victorious, I won’t accept the results”), massive insecurity borne of coddling (“how are we possibly going to survive? The end is near!”), and a little self-serving calculation thrown in for fun (“Gnarly … let’s get out of class and milk this for all it’s worth!”).
What does this have to do with the current student protest? A lot.
1) The question must be asked: What is the true message of this walkout? First, we heard it was to honor the 17 students and staff killed in Parkland, Fla., by walking out for 17 minutes and/or keeping silent during that time. That would be an eminently honorable thing to do.
Like everything in today’s America, the walkout became politicized, and morphed into a protest against gun violence – though who is actually rallying for gun violence remains a mystery.
2) In no way does that imply that young people should not have a public voice. They certainly should, and social media gives them an unprecedented platform to organize, communicate and possibly affect change. However, they should do so on their own time – not at the expense of the day’s teaching lessons and students there to learn.
3) A word to the wise to the young generation: If you want to be taken seriously, it isn’t enough to spew naïve platitudes and spout old talking points on social media. That’s not saying you are expected to become public policy experts overnight, but you have to put down the video games, invest the time, and do your homework.
4) Knowledge is power. And that is why schools should be educating, not condoning, protests. Yes, the Supreme Court ruled that First Amendment rights do not stop at school. And therefore, yes, students can express themselves – so long as learning is not disrupted. But that is a slippery slope, leading to questions in need of concrete answers.
Should students be allowed to walk out of class whenever they choose? And for whatever issue strikes their fancy?
Perhaps most ironic, with so many students coming and going, isn’t it exceedingly difficult to maintain the integrity of school safety?
5) Let’s be very honest. Students are not the primary driver behind many of these protests. In fact, it has been reported that many left-leaning entities, from teachers’ unions to Move On, have facilitated organizing, fundraising and training for such walkouts.
Student action has long been a part of American culture, as college protests helped end the Vietnam war and advance civil rights. But in our age of increasing intolerance, we must ensure that those who don’t participate are not labeled “uncaring” by the politically correct thought police.
It is encouraging to see so many young people engaged, but protesting for the sake of protesting – without a working knowledge of the problems, and concrete, real-world solutions to fix them – becomes a meaningless exercise. Likewise, walkouts done to generate “likes” so that a social media post goes “viral” (and the poster becomes a “sensation”) serve only to accelerate the trend toward total self-absorption.
Too many innocents have died at the hands of lunatics. We can’t change the culture of killing anytime soon – no matter what measures are taken – but the least we can do is honor the victims and their families in the most empathetic, genuine way possible.
Leave politics at the door, put down our phones, and say a prayer.