SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Around 200 students from South High School went to Minneapolis City Hall on Feb. 21, 2018 to protest recent gun violence and call for gun law reform. (Photo: Fibonacci Blue/Flickr/cc)
Ahead of Nationwide Walkout Demanding Action on Guns, ACLU Offers Primer on Students' Rights
"Rather than seeking to silence students' political engagement and quashing their desire for conversation, schools can approach this moment as an opportunity for learning about civic action."
Mar 13, 2018
Ahead of Wednesday's 17-minute walkout by high school students nationwide, to call for stricter gun control laws and remember those killed in the massacre in Parkland, Florida last month, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is providing legal resources to the students and urging administrators against punishing participants.
\u201cStudents planning to participate in the national school walkout tomorrow, you can print our one-pager of students' protest rights here: https://t.co/txb98lIlci\u201d— ACLU (@ACLU) 1520950859
"The impulse to discipline and control young people may come from the desire to avoid a contentious conversation in the short term, but resorting to punishment doesn't solve the problem, and it doesn't keep kids safe," staff attorney Sarah Hinger wrote for the ACLU's blog on Monday.
"Public school is the place where students experience and interact with government, learn through discussion and debate with other students from differing backgrounds, and build the foundation for participation in a democratic society," Hinger noted.
"Rather than seeking to silence students' political engagement and quashing their desire for conversation," she concluded, "schools can approach this moment as an opportunity for learning about civic action."
The students, who plan to walk out of classrooms across the country at 10 am local time despite disciplinary threats from administrators, are pushing for real solutions to gun violence in the form of state and federal legislation. Organizers are encouraging parents, teachers, and school staff to participate.
The ACLU hosted a question-and-answer session on Tumblr Tuesday to provide input on students' protest rights:
\u201cQuestions about students' protest rights before tomorrow's national student walkout? Our experts will be live on @tumblr at 4pm ET to answer.\n\nSubmit your questions now \u2192 https://t.co/LwTIJcboRm\u201d— ACLU (@ACLU) 1520963743
Earlier this month, in response to threats from high school administrations, the group also livestreamed a video tutorial on student rights:
Wednesday's walkout is just part of a national student-led movement for gun safety. Students and their supporters have also planned the "March for Our Lives" in Washington, D.C. on March 24 as well as a second nationwide walkout on April 20, the 19th anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Ahead of Wednesday's 17-minute walkout by high school students nationwide, to call for stricter gun control laws and remember those killed in the massacre in Parkland, Florida last month, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is providing legal resources to the students and urging administrators against punishing participants.
\u201cStudents planning to participate in the national school walkout tomorrow, you can print our one-pager of students' protest rights here: https://t.co/txb98lIlci\u201d— ACLU (@ACLU) 1520950859
"The impulse to discipline and control young people may come from the desire to avoid a contentious conversation in the short term, but resorting to punishment doesn't solve the problem, and it doesn't keep kids safe," staff attorney Sarah Hinger wrote for the ACLU's blog on Monday.
"Public school is the place where students experience and interact with government, learn through discussion and debate with other students from differing backgrounds, and build the foundation for participation in a democratic society," Hinger noted.
"Rather than seeking to silence students' political engagement and quashing their desire for conversation," she concluded, "schools can approach this moment as an opportunity for learning about civic action."
The students, who plan to walk out of classrooms across the country at 10 am local time despite disciplinary threats from administrators, are pushing for real solutions to gun violence in the form of state and federal legislation. Organizers are encouraging parents, teachers, and school staff to participate.
The ACLU hosted a question-and-answer session on Tumblr Tuesday to provide input on students' protest rights:
\u201cQuestions about students' protest rights before tomorrow's national student walkout? Our experts will be live on @tumblr at 4pm ET to answer.\n\nSubmit your questions now \u2192 https://t.co/LwTIJcboRm\u201d— ACLU (@ACLU) 1520963743
Earlier this month, in response to threats from high school administrations, the group also livestreamed a video tutorial on student rights:
Wednesday's walkout is just part of a national student-led movement for gun safety. Students and their supporters have also planned the "March for Our Lives" in Washington, D.C. on March 24 as well as a second nationwide walkout on April 20, the 19th anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting.
Ahead of Wednesday's 17-minute walkout by high school students nationwide, to call for stricter gun control laws and remember those killed in the massacre in Parkland, Florida last month, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is providing legal resources to the students and urging administrators against punishing participants.
\u201cStudents planning to participate in the national school walkout tomorrow, you can print our one-pager of students' protest rights here: https://t.co/txb98lIlci\u201d— ACLU (@ACLU) 1520950859
"The impulse to discipline and control young people may come from the desire to avoid a contentious conversation in the short term, but resorting to punishment doesn't solve the problem, and it doesn't keep kids safe," staff attorney Sarah Hinger wrote for the ACLU's blog on Monday.
"Public school is the place where students experience and interact with government, learn through discussion and debate with other students from differing backgrounds, and build the foundation for participation in a democratic society," Hinger noted.
"Rather than seeking to silence students' political engagement and quashing their desire for conversation," she concluded, "schools can approach this moment as an opportunity for learning about civic action."
The students, who plan to walk out of classrooms across the country at 10 am local time despite disciplinary threats from administrators, are pushing for real solutions to gun violence in the form of state and federal legislation. Organizers are encouraging parents, teachers, and school staff to participate.
The ACLU hosted a question-and-answer session on Tumblr Tuesday to provide input on students' protest rights:
\u201cQuestions about students' protest rights before tomorrow's national student walkout? Our experts will be live on @tumblr at 4pm ET to answer.\n\nSubmit your questions now \u2192 https://t.co/LwTIJcboRm\u201d— ACLU (@ACLU) 1520963743
Earlier this month, in response to threats from high school administrations, the group also livestreamed a video tutorial on student rights:
Wednesday's walkout is just part of a national student-led movement for gun safety. Students and their supporters have also planned the "March for Our Lives" in Washington, D.C. on March 24 as well as a second nationwide walkout on April 20, the 19th anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.