Why the walkouts occurred
On February 5, many students (including some at ours) participated in a walkout in order to protest against Trump’s immigration policies. Many students and people felt threatened and worried about his threats to crack down on deportations. Many people from all over protested against this, not just California, including people from Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana, and more. (AP NEWS)
For many students it was their worry for them, their families, or friends that pushed them to protest. “I’m trying to defend my parents, who immigrated here to get me a better life,” said Lexi Resendiz, 16, a student at Benjamin Franklin High School in Highland Park told a reporter from DE LOS. “How are people going to hate when they don’t even know the real us.”
Another student at Marshall High School, Gomez, said that she viewed the walkouts as just a start. She told DE LOS, “I definitely want to preface that this is a movement, not a moment. It’s not a trend, and it’s something that will keep going until we are protected by laws that protect our rights and basic human needs.”
This is how many students at our school, Animo Jefferson, felt. Some felt that they needed to fight for their or their families’ rights. Students also wanted to express their opinions and used this as an opportunity to fight for their rights. The students who did participate in the walkouts left school after fifth period and went to the protest event at City Hall in downtown Los Angeles. The next day, they returned to school and faced consequences for leaving without permission.
Why the school punished the people who participated in the walkouts
For Vice Principal Wendy Perez, while the school supports immigrants rights, they can’t give permission for students to attend an event that doesn’t have a clear responsible person in charge to be a point of contact.
“I don’t think that the school didn’t support the walkouts. I understand that students feel really strongly about rights for all people. Just because you weren’t born here, or you don’t have the same status as somebody else doesn’t mean that you don’t have the right to be treated fairly, equally with dignity,” said Vice Principal Ms. Perez. “What we couldn’t do was give permission to an event that wasn’t sponsored by the school. So we can’t actually send you guys on a field trip to something that doesn’t have a lead organizer or designation.”
Keeping students safe is also a priority for Perez.
“For me it was also about safety. I knew people were going to City Hall, I think that that did make sense, but there wasn’t a path. Like how are you guys getting there? Who is making sure that it’s safe? Who is providing people with resources just in case something happens and you get separated? Or you get put to the side? But I think it was more like we just didn’t know who were the people who were organizing well enough to be able to say, yes we think you should go to this.”
However, students were still able to participate. As long as they were with their parents.
“I did tell people that if your parents wanted you to participate… they could come pick you up and drive you there. Which we think is safer because then you’re with your parents and it’s a more controlled situation,” said Perez.
Consequences the students got
The school treated the situation like ditching since the student left campus without permission. The consequence for the students was to have a parent conference with students’ families so they could talk, just to clarify questions they had, like if the school had sponsored the protest? Why not? Or could the kids have gone if they went with their parents?
The students also got detention and had to check in with one of the administrators for 15 minutes in the morning before school and and afternoon after school for a two week period. This was mainly so the school could know where the students were.
