The Right to Protest By Andie Allred Introduction

The Right to Protest By Andie Allred

Introduction to Topic The Cobb County school board thinks they are keeping students safe by not allowing us to participate in the walkout on March 14 th, but they can not do much about us having the right to protest. They can discipline me all they want, but I am going to protest gun violence. My friend could have died in the school shooting in Florida less than a month ago.

What Goes On In a Walk Out? “Students are planning to silently walk out of their classrooms at 10 a. m. to remember the 14 students and three staff members who police say were killed on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14. ”, says northjersey. com. A student at Pompton Lakes High School in New Jersey named Kelly Brecq classifies the March 14 th walkout as peaceful and not meant to disrupt any normal activities. "We are doing it to remember the victims of the Parkland shootings. While students and faculty may have their own opinions, we do not want to politicize the event. It is simply to remember the lives lost… [It's] to kind of humanize the events and how it could've been us. ” The principal of her school, Vincent S. Przybylinski, says "We're keeping with theme of walking out of class. ”. The walkout at their school, Pompton Lakes High School, is a student-led memorial.

What the County Says The county tells students that they cannot participate in the March 14 th walkout due to safety issues, policies and that the protest would be a distraction to others trying to learn. Students participating will be punished. • “The safety of our students and employees is the top priority of the Cobb County School District” • “Which is a policy violation and potentially jeopardizes student and staff safety” • “Interruption of normal school operation” • “Does not support or endorse walkoutsprotests that cause interruption to normal school operations” • “Students who choose to disrupt the normal operation of a school may be subject to consequences”

What the Amendments Say The amendments tell us that we can participate in peaceful protests. All citizens have basic rights like the freedom of speech, the right to assemble and to petition the government if necessary. Those who participate in walkouts are exercising their basic rights. • “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. ”

Views on the Topic Lassiter High School, which is in the Cobb County School District, already has students who will participate in the walkout anyway. "We want this to be a positive walk out, a positive change, a step in the right direction. We're going to set aside 10 seconds for each victim of the shooting and read their names and ages just to honor them, ” Said a student at Lassiter, Megan Toomey. The ACLU of Washington is going to make sure students know their rights. “There’s a famous quote from a case from the 1960 s, Tinker versus Des Moines, that says students do not shed their First Amendment rights at the school house gates. ” Said Vanessa Hernandez, who is the youth policy director for the ACLU of Washington. She says those rights include whether the student protestor is punished.

Conclusion As said in slide 6, “students do not shed their First Amendment rights at the school house gates”, and if we do not have the right to protest then we do not have the right to a court trial nor are we subject to any punishments for exercising our freedoms and rights. School shootings take place within a school, so are we really safer by being locked up in our classrooms?

Sources • http: //mynorthwest. com/916252/students-planning-march-14 -walkout-could-face-consequences/ (slide 6) • https: //www. northjersey. com/story/news/passaic/pompton-lakes/2018/03/05/nj-pompton-lakeshigh-school-students-walking-out-class-response-parkland-shooting-florida-shooting/389218002/ (slide 3) • http: //www. cobbk 12. org/ (slide 4) • http: //www. fox 5 atlanta. com/news/cobb-county-schools-says-student-who-participate-in-walkoutmay-face-consequences (slide 6) • https: //nccs. net/blogs/americas-founding-documents/bill-of-rights-amendments-1 -10 (slide 5)