sleestak: I hate to play Junior Mod, but please read UncleBeer’s post in this thread.
FCM: I would guess that if students were that eager to take “any excuse to get out of school,” they’d have protests every week. That hardly seems to be the case.
HMLorna: WTG!
Ah, I remember when I was young, before the world crushed my spirit… 
Seriously, whether leaving school was right or wrong, good for you for standing up for your beliefs.
Back when I was a young 'un, they didn’t call it a protest, they just cut class.
Well, that’s sort of what I was thinking–not from a cynical perspective, per se, but Lorna, how many of those people do you think were genuinely interested in speaking out against the war (and would have eagerly done so on a Saturday), and how many do you think just liked having a valid excuse to skip out?
(That’s not an attack, and no snarkiness is intended–I’m genuinely interested to know what you think; in a school with a student body that small, I’d venture to say that you know quite a few of these kids well enough to make a judgment.)
I really do commend you for conceiving and organizing the protest. I wouldn’t have had the balls.
More Moderator’s Notes:
Indeed. Thank you, RTF.
Although I don’t really agree with the stance you have taken (flavor-of-the-day-left-wing-cause) and though I share FCM’s cynicism, the fact that you planned, organized, followed through, got people to show up and actually DO it shows great spirit and initiative. Good for you.
You’ll probably end up a very sucessful businessperson someday with those skills!
I’m glad you stood up for your beliefs and did something to show your community how you feel.
At the same time, I disagree with your rationale. I will not start a debate, or counter your reasons. I just disagree with protesting this war.
But I applaud you and your colleagues for exercising your First Amendment rights. Since you did what you felt was right, and didn’t break any laws (except truancy ones, but good-oh for civil disobedience), or engage in violence, you embodied the freedom we wish for the people in Iraq.
I hope a few years from now, Iraqi students can take to the streets in a peaceful demonstration against their government’s policies and face no worse consequences than you did.
Very good for you. There are definately reasons for not doing it on a Saturday. I am sure many of the people would have still attended on a Saturday and spoke but the way they did it would have raised more community awareness and possibly have given them some media time. Remember folks, if a draft is ever reinstituted, it is the young people that get recruited first. It will affect them before it ever affect most of the rest of us. I remember when Gulf War round 1 was happening that many of my other high school friends were very worried about getting drafted even though it hasn’t been instituted for a very long time. Good for you, keep speaking up for what you believe.
Whoo! More power to you, Lorna. We had a walkout this last Thursday, but it wasn’t as much of a success as yours. We had only around fifty or so students. There were more, but at the first call of “You’re all going to be suspended!”, we lost about at third of our support.
Probably because they had no idea what was going on, but eh. In anycase, our only punishment was three Saturday Morning detentions. :rolleyes:
I’m an old fogey of 48 who had the same cynical attitude towards a walk-out that a number of other posters had. Then I read the post by Lamar Mundane and realized s/he was right. Whatever the motives of the other students HML was obviously very sincere. I admire **HML ** for taking a stand and following through, even though I don’t agree with the rationale.
Thanks, everyone who has said kind things! I appreciate the support!
Zoe, good thought! I just might try that. Thanks!
auntie em: I think that probably about 90% of the students that participated were genuinely passionate about the cause. The other 10%, well, they marched, chanted, and held signs, so they, too, were at least doing something which was (I think constructive).
There weren’t really any students who just dragged along doing nothing. Not worth it to miss tests, quizzes, get detention, and incur the wrath of teachers.
To update: the administration is now calling for all participants to have two days of afterschool suspension. I am fine with this, as are most people I talked with. We knew this might be a consequence, and are ready to accept it.
Also, we got media coverage on the local news three times yesterday, the front page of the local paper, the front page of the University paper, and coverage on this website: deleted - see below
I wonder if we would have gotten the same coverage on a weekend.
To those who wish to argue issues of the rationale behind the protest, I think those issues are better suited to be in different threads/forums. I would be happy to debate these topics elsewhere, but I think they’re not quite right for MPSIMS (as per Uncle Beer’s comments.
I’m sure Sadam Husan apreciates your efforts and sacrifice for him. Are you sure this is what you want to protest?
kanicbird, I want to ask you a question. Who is Sadam Husan? Proofreading is your friend. Cut her some slack, even if you don’t agree with her position.
Do you honestly think he knows?
And by the way, just because someone disagrees with the war does not mean they are a fan of Saddam.
Good for you, but as some newsperson said, skipping school to protest is like giving up broccoli for lent. I saw reporters interviewing some of the protesters, and some of the kids thought we wer already bombing (this is b4 we were), and couldn’t find Iraq on a map (I’m not saying the OP fits in this situation).
Suggestion: Organize something to get your seniors to register and VOTE, that’s something that can have real impact.
Brian
When I first heard about a walkout, I too thought it was a pretty ineffective way to demonstrate your political beliefs. However, I didn’t realize that it was a walkout and a demonstration. (Kind of dense of me, I know, like when I didn’t realize that a cheesesteak was a sandwich. So sue me.) Now that’s something that’s meaningful.
I was a high school student not terribly long ago, and I’m willing to bet that the majority of students who think classes are not fun will have the exact same opinion of a political demonstration.
I agree that voting is incredibly important. However, most high school students can’t vote, so I think there is value in letting them express their voices as well.
I will not discuss Saddam-support any further than saying that I think Saddam Hussein is a man who has commited atrocities and I give him no support. No one at our walkout expressed any pro-Saddam sentiments, and this was not something I or any of the organizers upported.
Like Lissa said, anti-war is not pro-Saddam. This is not a black and white situation. There is not a purely good and purely evil side in this war. This is what I believe. I hope you can respect my right to that belief. I have thought through this war, am very knowledgeable about it, and the conclusion I have reached is that war is not the best solution for our country.
My generation is the one that will inherit the effects of this war.
It’s not about getting the war to end with a slogan. Citizens need to express their views for the idea of democracy to function. Sometimes the means aren’t always about the end.
Sorry about that. Apologies to all.
Slee
::sneaks out feeling really stupid::
Here Here…
Lets all hope there’s a brighter future for children worldwide, including Iraq…