A Teacher's Perspective About Students Who Protest During School

By now we have all heard about the debate in the senate concerning illegal immigration and the fall out this has had in the streets of Los Angeles. Last week the senate was working on bill HR4437. This bill dealt exclusively with the issue of undocumented workers and some of the harsher tenants of the bill struck a resounding chord with immigrants throughout the country.

The criminalization of undocumented workers, punishment for those who help undocumented workers and the building of a fence at the boarder were all up for debate. No matter where you fall on the illegal immigration debate the fact remains that this will be an issue in the 2008 election and in some cases is the number one issue facing California. While the senate met to hammer out what they would do, many high school and middle school students took to the streets to make their feelings heard.

While I may sympathize with their thoughts of anger and frustration it just didn't seem helpful for students to be in the streets and for reporters to catch sound bites from some of the more, shall we say less informed kids while they marched/ran on the freeway. These are the thoughts that swirled in my head on Monday morning when I saw our students trying to leave our campus. They felt they had the right to leave. Our vice principal explained the law and why they could be sited if they walked off the campus. It was the typical divide between students and those in authority playing out right before my eyes. As I watched the scene, something else organically happened. Five students took it upon themselves to try and stop the students from leaving.

They talked about being organized and sending the right message. They spoke of making an impact and taking this issue very seriously. Was this one of those teachable moments, I thought to myself? Either way, I knew that this was just a moment I could not afford to miss. After twenty-five minutes of back and forth some students left while others stayed. As the fervor died down I found myself surrounded by the same small group of students who wanted to do something but that something, in their opinion was not to skip school and be in the streets. Although they came armed with questions, every time they asked one another student in the group had the answer. I merely listened and nodded.

The students had just come from a leadership retreat in Malibu where they met with the veterans of the Chicano civil rights movement who 30 years ago mobilized students to fight for a better education. These five students wanted to follow in the footsteps of these activists but they wanted to do it in the most meaningful of ways. They downloaded as much information on the bill as they could so they could understand it and know it like the back of their hands (I loved hearing them yell at their peers, "It is not a proposition it's a bill!!") They held a student really/teach in a classroom during lunch where they passed out a pamphlet they had made that had the key points of interest on the bill. They talked with our principal about staging a protest on Friday AFTER school.

They wanted to send two messages. They wanted to let people know that they were concerned about HR4437 and how it affected them but they also wanted to let people know they were serious about their education. They made posters and signs. They invited parents to be a part of protest (they made sure to let folks know this was NOT a walkout). They told kids to make sure they carried American flags as well as flags that represented the home countries of their parents. They talked about having press releases and point people to talk to reporters. They used My Space, cell phones and text messages to alert other high school students to join them. They put this together in the span of two days. They did it with a sense of nervousness and excitement. They did it knowing fully well this was their first step into the adult world of politics and they did it, with their heads held high.

As Thursday ended the students who chose to be a part of the protest walked off campus carrying signs, banners and an assortment of flags. As they walked on the sidewalk down to city hall in Santa Monica, shop owners came out of their respective business to clap and cheer the kids on. Both the LAPD and Santa Monica Police Department escorted the students to make sure they were safe. Folks in their cars honked their horns in support of the students. As the students made it to city hall, spontaneously they sent the best message any group of concerned young citizens could muster. They turned to face the flag at city hall and the sons and daughters of immigrants were led in the pledge of allegiance by one of their peers.

As I watched the scene unfold with a few other teachers and our principal we couldn't all help but say collectively this is why we indeed teach. This is why we stand in front of kids and try to capture their attention and their imagination in the hopes of getting them to apply what they have learned to the real world. The kids took what they learned in our classrooms, from the leadership retreat and truly put theory into praxis. When students asked any of the teachers what they should do next or if and when they could leave we merely told them to ask their student leaders. As the afternoon progressed students gave testimonials about why they were there, why their parents came to the US and how they felt the tenants in the bill were unfair. They spoke passionately and articulately. They thanked the police and their supporters. They did all of these things with an air of dignity and pride and they did it with their heads held high.

As the day ended the students thanked the teachers for their support. Kids caught the bus home and some got rides with their parents. As I made my way back home my principal called me and we both talked non-stop about how impressed we were at our kids. It was indeed one of those days where I truly felt inspired and proud to be a teacher. It was one of those days where I could honestly say this is definitely why "I Teach for America". I am not sure what the future holds for these new young leaders. Maybe they will continue to delve deeper into community activism. Maybe they will run for student council (this is my secret hope). Hopefully they will remember the moment when they took charge of a situation and brought meaning to it. Hopefully they will remember how they were able to empower themselves and a small school community. I look forward to seeing these students fully grow into the leadership roles they have organically stepped into. There are no guarantees in terms of how the students will harness this new found activism but one thing is for sure. However they decide to get involved in the politics of the day, I know for a fact they will bring a sense of purpose, thoughtfulness and human dignity to the discussion, and they'll do it with their heads held high.

David Carr teaches Ethnic Studies at Animo Venice Charter High School
And was a 1993 Teach for America corps member.