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1 comment - Last on 03/15/2010
California High School Compelled Students to Protest
Today in the 
education, the protests themselves brought education to a halt. Ultimately, Saunders wrote, “The event showed how little educators and students value education.”
She quotes Ian Glazman-Schillinger, a freshman student at Oceana High in
We have a copy of the letter that went out to all parents of Oceana students. It informed parents that “The Oceana staff has decided to change its regular school schedule on March 4th and participate in public education activities on this day,” and “we want Oceana students to be a part of the events.” The letter gave parents the opportunity to sign a permission slip for their child to take part in off-campus activities. Students without such permission, it said, “will be involved in activities at school.” Nowhere in the letter were there provisions to choose not to participate in the protests. It says, “Everyone will return to school by mid-morning. The remainder of the day will be filled with educational workshops on the budget crisis and the political process.” One of those “educational workshops” turned out to be a session in which students were strongly exhorted to either call or write a letter to their legislator.
The March 4 demonstrations really were a temper tantrum in that they were loud, close-minded, and laughably self-contradictory. The case of the coercion at Oceana provides a perhaps emblematic glimpse of the activism required of students. Perhaps the only thing worse than observing a temper tantrum is being forced to throw one.
See the NAS article “March Forth” for more background on the nationwide campus protests.
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Why exactly isn't this a violation of the 13th Amendment?
Students are being required - without compensation or choice - to lobby for those who hold custody over them to be paid more. That is slavery, little different than requiring the students to go mow teachers' lawns...
by Ed Posted on 03/13/2010