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Students start walkout to protest war, recruiting James Walsh, Star Tribune
Students from Twin Cities area high schools walked out of school this morning to protest the war in Iraq and military recruiting in their schools.
The walkout is part of a nationwide protest organized by Youth Against War and Racism. In Minnesota, students are to gather at the University of Minnesota's Coffman Memorial Union plaza for a rally at noon, followed by a march to a nearby military recruiting station and a teach-in.
About 20 students walked out of Bloomington Kennedy High School at 10:30 a.m. Most said they had excused absences; a couple said they didn't have excuses but were going anyway.
At Minneapolis South, about 100 students walked out.
Kennedy Principal Ron Simmons said that today was the second day of end-of-quarter tests at Kennedy. Any student who walked out without permission would not be able to make up work they miss today and their grades would be affected, he said.
Simmons estimated that about 20 parents had called to excuse their students, but he wasn't not sure how many of those calls were related to the protest.
Andrew O'Brien, 17, a senior and one of the school's walkout organizers, was disappointed that more students weren't participating. He said the timing of the protest during the testing period was a problem. In addition, he said it's been difficult to get Kennedy students interested in the issue. Students are apathetic about politics in general and about the war specifically, he said.
Ty Moore, an organizer of the Twin Cities protest, said he expected from 1,000 to 2,000 high school students to walk out today to protest the war, military recruiting in high schools and inadequate education spending.
He said he'd heard from students at 36 metro area high schools who said they would participate in the walkout. The strongest support is from schools in the Bloomington, Minneapolis and Robbinsdale school districts, he said.
Last week, Moore and other protest supporters accused some schools of threatening students who walked out with failing grades. Most schools responded that they would follow their normal policies for absences: If students are excused by a parent, they will be allowed to make up work they miss.
Moore said his group would mount a "pressure campaign" against schools if students are disciplined or are not allowed to make up work as a result of the walkout.
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"Moore said his group would mount a "pressure campaign" against schools if students are disciplined or are not allowed to make up work as a result of the walkout."
They should be allowed to make up work or be disciplined/not disciplined per whatever the standard rules are for any type of absence.
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A recruiter has no business in a high school since most of the students are under 18 years old,not including our Mr. Bush, and still under the legal guardianship of there parents. imho
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quote:Originally posted by bond006: A recruiter has no business in a high school since most of the students are under 18 years old,not including our Mr. Bush, and still under the legal guardianship of there parents. imho
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So what you are saying bond is that we should sensor one segment of society in the furtherance of protecting kids from joining the military? Interesting. You do know that they can't join the armed forces without parental consent if they are under 18, right? Don't get me wrong, I really don't care for recruiters either. But it does seem funny to want to keep those out that are fighting to guarantee your freedom. I mean why go after these guys because their boss lied? When I went to lecture at the high school my cousin teaches at I saw all kinds of kids that 4 years in the military would definitely help.
-------------------- If it wasn't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all.
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they recruit thru NASCAR too... and at first i wasn't real happy( only cuz i know how much it costs)...but then i realised that its actually a good target group...
the military runs as a team (like nascar) the military runs on eqpt (like nascar)
and the military needs people that are willing to/better yet? ENJOY risk taking....
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise.
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Yeah, I know. Greg Biffle and I are from the same town. As for me, my days of kicking in doors and the like are over. Gonna go back to being aircrew when my contract with the Guard is up. Don't need the adrenaline rush anymore. Guess I'm getting old.
-------------------- If it wasn't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all.
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We would all object if we were to find that the local high school was scheduling sessions for the students with a life insurance salesman or the loan officer for a bank so they could pitch their product" to innocent kids.
And when we did object, there wouldn't be any right wingers calling us unamerican and claiming that we didn't "support the troups".
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