Last week was spring break. As is my custom, I saved my subbing posts from the week before the break to post the week we're back in school.
Wednesday. 11:59 AM.
The bell rang to begin fourth period freshman geography. But several students were hovering in the doorway.
It was the third day of a four day assignment, and while I had many tardies, this was unusual. What was going on?
A student showed me a post from social media. (Instagram? I didn't get a close look.) It was a graphic for a student walkout at noon.
(I hadn't heard anything about this before that moment, but I later heard about it on the evening news. Here's a website explaining the plan. And here's an article talking about how it went down elsewhere.)
Ah. That made sense. They were going to walk out. Okay, then.
But... A couple of them were unsure what to do. And I had one student wanting to be marked present even though he was planning to walk out.
Ah, freshmen...
I had no problem with them protesting. But I wasn't marking students present who weren't in class.
(It was the timing that sucked. If class started five minutes earlier, I would have had time to take roll. Five minutes later and they wouldn't have come to class.)
It was like they wanted permission to leave. I couldn't give that. I wasn't going to object, but I wasn't going to encourage it, either. (It was a protest. The whole point was them going against what they were supposed to be doing.)
A bunch of them left. Well, not a bunch. Less than one-fourth of the class.
And...
I mean, it wasn't like they were truly missing anything. They were having a "workshop day" where they were completing assignments for the unit they were working on. They knew this. They had asked me the day before, and I had confirmed that was the assignment.
Five minutes later, three students returned. Then another two a bit later. Then a bit after that, another two.
Apparently, this "protest" wasn't much of a protest. It was a bunch of students aimlessly walking around campus. The freshmen got bored and came back to class.
Deep sigh. What a great opportunity wasted.
(Someone should have taken the lead. They've done this sort of thing before at the school.)
Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter
I think they should be protesting. The most dangerous thing kids do these days is go to school. Perhaps they well grow up and changes the laws that allow it to happen.
ReplyDeleteYes, they should be. They should have gone out and made some noise. Someone could have called the local media. It was such an opportunity wasted.
DeleteWe, the adults in the room, should have resolved this situation long ago on behalf of our children/grandchildren- we have failed an entire generation. It's sad, in a way, that this particular protest fizzled out without a good student leader.
ReplyDeleteYes. Those of us who keep supporting the NRA's right to sell more guns let this keep happening. We've got to remove those people from power.
DeletePretty bad that the protest was boring and it sent them back to class....not a lot of planning on that walk out.
ReplyDeleteI know. If someone had just taken the lead and set up something, they would have had a ton of students showing up to support them.
DeleteJamie (jannghi.blogspot.com): Someone i knew form highs cool recently reminded me of a walk-out/protest we had at our school one year. Not sure what it was about.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to exercise the protest muscle.
DeleteThese kids have a horrific situation. Our leaders have failed them.
ReplyDeleteVery true.
DeleteThey're still learning. They don't yet understand that the purpose of protesting is causing--and getting in--trouble.
ReplyDeleteIt could have been a big thing if someone had just helped the students organize. Like Jamie, I had a walk-out day in high school, and don't remember what for! I think the students walked to the district offices. I went to class. It certainly wasn't as important an issue as this one.
ReplyDeleteSadly, the first I heard about it was at the moment they were leaving. If I had known earlier, I might have been able to offer suggestions. Sigh.
DeleteI hate a poorly thought out protest. They're awkward and embarrassing.
ReplyDeleteYes, this exactly.
DeleteI guess the close thing I been to a protest is our library read in. And I went to March sometime ago, about the time that refuges was coming to America. Our area they weren't welcome. I was on the side that was willing to welcome them. The other side showed up with guns.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on and stay safe.
Hopefully they'll do better next time they need to protest.
ReplyDeleteI hope they've learned that lesson. I hope someone takes lead. They could totally organize something like this again, but that's the key word: "organize".
DeleteI'm assuming the.protest is about all the gun violence.? They needed a leader to guide them. It's a horrible dilemma the States is in. Just take the guns away.
ReplyDeleteYes, they did. Yes, gun violence. And yes, we need to take the guns away, but the NRA has bought so many politicians that they fight it. Yeah, some people are more concerned with getting money than saving kids' lives.
Delete