On November 11th, hundreds of students from Hunter High School, Kearns High School, and Taylorsville High School to protest the recent election of Donald Trump. The school district estimates that about 500 students participated. Granite District’s Facebook post reads:
“Dear Patrons,
Today at Hunter High School, Kearns High School, and Taylorsville High School groups of students initiated a walk out in protest over the recent election. The walk out started at Hunter High with approximately 200+ students who made their way to Kearns, then to Taylorsville High School. While this was not a majority of students by any means, it appears around 500 students participated.
As student safety and instruction is our primary goal, we wanted to ensure all students who remained in class had the opportunity to learn and were not disrupted. Additionally, we wanted to make sure students who did participate in the walk out remained safe. As such, Unified Police followed the group as they made their way to Taylorsville, where they were allowed on the football field to prevent them from being near busy streets and would not disrupt students in class.
This event was covered extensively by news media. If your student is under the age of 18, news media cannot legally interview your child without permission. If this is a concern for you, please contact the media outlet directly.
Attendance was taken as normal today. If you would like to check to see if your child was in class, you may contact your school’s attendance office or check the Parent Portal.
We appreciate the efforts of law enforcement and school administration to keep our students safe and keep instruction going in classrooms.”
These students have faced much criticism from parents, teachers, and others. Comments left on the above post could easily be described as condescending. A few that stood out to me, copied directly from the comments:
“Some of these kids probably didn’t even protest, they were just looking for a reason to skip class and create an unsafe mess!”
“They participated in a peaceful protest for what a fair election? They didnt get their way, boo hoo. This is the real world YOU WONT ALWAYS GET YOUR WAY!!!!”
“Really? They aren’t even old enough to vote.”
“And this is what happens when you give trophies to the losers/participants trophies. Not everybody needs to throw a fit when they don’t get their way. Grow up and face the fact that not everybody wins.”
I, personally, am very proud of the students who did this. They are paying attention to politics and utilizing their First Amendment rights to make their voices heard. This election affects them and they have the right to voice their opinions. Even if they can’t vote yet, they will be able to in a few years and I think it’s important that they start their own political education now.
Many people also complained about the fact that students skipped school to protest. They say that this disrupts education. I disagree. Missing a single day of school will not affect a student’s learning or their grade. In fact, I would argue that using their rights and learning about politics is much more educational than a day in school.
It is unacceptable for adults to discourage students for standing up for their beliefs, especially when it is done in such a derogatory and disdainful way. These students are taking a stand for themselves, their loved ones, and their lives. They should be respected for this.
Students, I stand with you.
shaepable 