Watch: Students Put Pencils Down, Walk Out in Gun Protests
Thousands of Students Are Walking Out of School in Nationwide Protests. Here’s Why
March for our Lives
Parkland student: My generation won't stand for this (Opinion) - CNN
Activists Lay Thousands of Shoes Outside U.S. Capitol
Thousands of students across the D.C. area staged walkouts Wednesday to protest gun violence, one month after the deadly shooting inside a high school in Parkland, Florida.
Police cruisers escorted hundreds of students from Montgomery Blair High School as they marched through Silver Spring, Maryland, carrying signs that said "Protect Children, Not Guns" and "Our Blood, Your Hands."
The walkout is one of the first of many in the region.
The first large-scale, coordinated national demonstration is planned for 10 a.m. Wednesday, when organizers of the Women's March called for a 17-minute walkout -- with one minute for each of the 17 students and staff members killed in Florida. Many organizers and participants are using the #enough hashtag.
Thousands of Students Are Walking Out of School in Nationwide Protests. Here’s Why
Next nationwide protest is March 24th, and I will be attending that one.The 1969 Supreme Court ruling on the case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District makes it clear that students don’t “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” But that does come with some caveats and complications.
- First, it only applies to public schools. “This is because public schools are run by the government and private schools aren’t, and the First Amendment only controls what the government can and can’t do,” the ACLU explains on its “Know Your Rights” page. Students at private schools can be stopped from participating in protests like the #Enough National School walkout, and students should consult with their teachers and school administrators and know what the policies are regarding protests or absences.
- Second, free speech in schools extends “as long as you don’t disrupt the functioning of the school or violate the school’s content-neutral policies,” the ACLU explains, and what is “disruptive” is contextual. If deemed disruptive, “schools can stop students from participating,” according to CNN.
- Third, you can be punished for participating — not over what you are protesting, but for being absent from class. “The exact punishment you could face will vary by your state, school district, and school,” the ACLU explains. “Find out more by reading the policies of your school and school district. If you’re planning to miss a class or two, look at the policy for unexcused absences.” If planned ahead with parents, students may be able to be signed out of a class by a parent.
- Finally, schools are mandated to be guardians to their students. “Schools stand in what’s known as loco parentis, so we don’t simply release our students into the ether,” Francisco Negron, the Chief Legal Officer at the National School Boards Association, told NPR. Negron issued guidance to schools ahead of the walkouts. “Chief among our recommendations is that to the extent possible, school districts should plan ahead and engage your students, parents, and stakeholders,” the checklist reads. Teachers also have a complex position when it comes to protesting; they can often protest on their own time, but not during class time, according to CNN.
March for our Lives
Parkland student: My generation won't stand for this (Opinion) - CNN
Activists Lay Thousands of Shoes Outside U.S. Capitol
Activists placed thousands of pairs of shoes on the lawn outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Tuesday to memorialize children killed by gun violence.
The demonstration was planned by international advocacy group Avaaz to represent the number of children killed by guns since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, CBS News reports.
The demonstration was based on research by the American Academy of Pediatrics that found that 1,300 children die from gun shot wounds in the U.S. annually, or about three daily. Thus the display featured 7,000 pairs of shoes.
The protestors assembled the empty shoes on the southeast lawn from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in an effort to push Congress for gun reform.