National School Walkout

[carpedm9587]

One of the local schools required that any students cutting class to attend the rally had to send their teachers a video of them there.

Proof of attendance is OK, but I really like the idea of giving the students an out of "discipline" by requiring them to defend their position. Agree or not agree, at least they have to think....

[Mountain Man]

"Student Suspended for Refusing to Leave Class During Gun Control Walkout"

http://www.breitbart.com/2nd-amendme...-control-walk/

[rogue06]

"Student Suspended for Refusing to Leave Class During Gun Control Walkout"

http://www.breitbart.com/2nd-amendme...-control-walk/

It appears he refused to leave the classroom when given the choice of participating in the protest or going to "study hall."

[demi-conservative]

It appears he refused to leave the classroom when given the choice of participating in the protest or going to "study hall."

Protest of protest, good stuff!

[rogue06]

Proof of attendance is OK, but I really like the idea of giving the students an out of "discipline" by requiring them to defend their position. Agree or not agree, at least they have to think....

Even though I don't think students should be allowed to skip school to attend a protest or political rally, writing three pages defending their position should, at least, force them to think beyond parroting a couple of disjointed catch-phrases and slogans.

[guacamole]

That’s an awesome way to get photos to get
Fired over from students who dislike you.

[Darth Executor]

This is why teenagers can't set policy - they are too ignorant...

To be fair their arguments aren't any worse than those of the average adult liberal as far as this issue is concerned.

[Juvenal]

I polled a third class, this one on a different campus, a different neighborhood, and a "different demographic," as I keep hearing from administrators. The results were noticeably different.

Not quite half the class said they'd feel safer if I were armed. It was less than half, more of them would not, but still, that's a lot more than just one out of the other two classes I'm teaching this term.

Then I asked how they'd feel about the instructor next door being armed. Then I asked how they felt the students next door, who didn't know me, would feel about me being armed.

[Juvenal]

This is a lao tzu thread clarification.

What happens is that the politicians don't really care if the students know what they are protesting, or even if they ARE protesting guns or something else. They just want to be able to say "Look at this nationwide protest of students from all over the country, coming together in solidarity to protest for more gun control" -- in other words THEY create the "reason" for the protest even if the kids are just thinking "cool we get out of class for a few hours"

This post is speculating on the motivations of politicians and minimizing student participation by providing an alternative, and less worthy, motivation for the students.

This is allowed.

That is quite a lot of speculation and nothing to back it up apart from the fact that quite many readers may find it convenient to think that this is the truth. Have you got any facts or do you expect us to just buy into this pure speculation?

This post maligns "many readers" by providing an alternative, and less worthy, motivation, but this attack, by its nature, excludes the poster.

It does call out a poster by asking him to source his opinions. It is unnecessarily personal, IMHO, but it's clearly directed at the substance of the post.

This is allowed.

I couldn't care less what you buy into, Chuckypoo.

This post maligns a participating poster, independent of his position, by using a belittling nickname. If I don't draw the line on this, the thread will fill with "dimbulbs" and the like, and I don't want that.

Not in this thread, please.

Tell him.

I have, in other threads where he's done the same, and the above, I believe, is evidence that he's moderated this behavior in response to my requests.

Thank you, and TWeb, for allowing me this space for these threads.

[hedrick]

It appears he refused to leave the classroom when given the choice of participating in the protest or going to "study hall."

Quotations from the school (in the WaPo article) suggest that the school had effectively disarmed the protest. They claim it wasn't political, but was a memorial to the students who were killed. At that point I feel a bit less sympathetic to this student.

The middle school that my Sunday School kids go to organized the protest. A few kids decided to leave the school building, because participating in a school-organized activity wasn't a real protest. I agree. Tomorrow in class I plan to talk with them about just what civil disobedience really is. It includes accepting consequences.

[carpedm9587]

It appears he refused to leave the classroom when given the choice of participating in the protest or going to "study hall."

Yet another marvelous example of Brietbart's disengenuous stories...

[carpedm9587]

Even though I don't think students should be allowed to skip school to attend a protest or political rally, writing three pages defending their position should, at least, force them to think beyond parroting a couple of disjointed catch-phrases and slogans.

Warms the cockles of my little teacher's heart...

[Mountain Man]

Yet another marvelous example of Brietbart's disengenuous stories...

Yet another marvelous example of carpe not actually reading the source since Breitbart accurately cited an AP story: "The Associated Press reports the school district suspended Shoemaker for staying in the classroom." And that's precisely what happened. It seems that staying in the classroom instead of moving to a study hall was his own form of protest. According to Breitbart, "The student, Jacob Shoemaker, wanted to remain in class at Hilliard Davidson High School as a way to keep from being ensnared in the political debate surrounding gun ownership."

The only thing disingenuous here is you criticizing a story that you didn't even bother to take the time to read.

[Juvenal]

Yet another marvelous example of carpe not actually reading the source since Breitbart accurately cited an AP story: "The Associated Press reports the school district suspended Shoemaker for staying in the classroom." And that's precisely what happened. It seems that staying in the classroom instead of moving to a study hall was his own form of protest. According to Breitbart, "The student, Jacob Shoemaker, wanted to remain in class at Hilliard Davidson High School as a way to keep from being ensnared in the political debate surrounding gun ownership."

This is acceptable.

The only thing disingenuous here is you criticizing a story that you didn't even bother to take the time to read.

Not in this thread, please.

[carpedm9587]

A more detailed breakdown of the student's story is here, for those interested in hearing what actually happened and why. I've double-checked with several other sources, and the story checks out.

These kids are picking up momentum. They've already caused some political fall-out, like this one. I hope they turn out to be the magic that turns the tide on the gun discussion. Personally, I'm tired of being herded by the NRA and the gun industry. It is time for things to start changing.

P.S. And yes, I read the Brietbart article...