I read online last night that students at one of our local high schools staged a walkout to protest the new cell phone policy. Truth in advertising: I learned this information in a Facebook group that focuses on the Howard County schools, not in a newspaper article written by a professional journalist. According to information gleaned from this thread, the students got permission and followed all the necessary protocols.
The discussion that followed contained a good deal of disagreement. I don’t want to go into detail here because it is a private Facebook group and I want to respect those boundaries. I will share two things which struck me.
1. Despite the differences of opinion, the discussion never sank to name calling, personal attack, or even snarkiness. (One person came close.) I am always stunned when that’s the case. I’m all for disagreement- - even very strongly-worded statements - - but when it devolves into a claws-out, take-no-prisoners mêlée then I think we lose something. I think that the admin of this particular Facebook group have worked hard to support a balance between free-for-all and compulsory “good behavior”.
2. A point of concern. There seemed to be several schools of thought about the walkout. The one that bothered me was that if one approved of the walkout that meant that one agreed with its premise.
This is not necessarily the case.
I’m in favor of the new cell phone policy. I’ve written about that here. It may need some tweaking and I hope that the Board of Education will take feedback seriously, especially concerning the needs of students with disabilities. Nevertheless, I’m in support of students organizing around an issue that matters to them.
Even if I don’t agree with them. Maybe especially when I don’t agree with them. Why? Because dissent and protest are essential rights of an engaged citizen in a functioning democracy.
Yes, we want to give them the best possible education so that they are informed and can discern truth from falsehood. We want to help them develop critical thinking skills. We want to create environments where they learn empathy and can value hearing other points of view. And, along with that, we want to give students opportunities to act on what they believe in.
Even if we don’t agree. Or think it’s silly. Even if we think there are far more important things to protest. I absolutely do believe that the right to protest is a part of our democratic system and that it should be respected. In America, where we owe our very existence to people who took part in very public acts of protest, I think it’s valuable to allow young people the opportunity to use their voices and their actions to speak out.
A good public school education shouldn’t be solely about sowing the seeds of compliance. There are those who think it should be. Leaders in totalitarian regimes, for instance.
So, to be clear, I’m in favor of the new cell phone policy. I’m also in favor of a good, old-fashioned student protest.
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