i didn't participate in the student walkout - Here's why

by A Senior at Kamiak High School

Opinion

I don't disagree with some of the goals of the walkout, and no doubt some students had very good motivations in participating.

Students are afraid for their own health and the health of their vulnerable family members. They are worried about the impact on their education from the large percentage of teachers out of school due to COVID-related issues, resulting in a large number of classes taught by substitute teachers who cannot be as effective. At least online teachers stuck at home would still be able to teach if they so choose. However, I can also understand why some students might be entirely opposed to this idea—many of our students rely on school for their meals and on their friends and extracurriculars for their mental health.

If this walkout was going to be done more effectively, in my opinion, many things needed to happen before it occurred.

The first time I heard about this walkout was the weekend prior to it. Where were the conversation and discussion? Were teachers, who are especially impacted when it comes to COVID, consulted about these issues? They were promised rapid tests, which had yet to be provided at the time and could have made excellent allies for the organizers of the protest. How about a sample of students who would be affected in different ways— both positive and negative? Where were the counterarguments to these problems, like free meals, childcare, and mental health?

I understand the frustration—I personally wouldn’t mind a break from school. It would reduce my anxiety when it comes to COVID and allow me a chance to catch up with my classwork and extracurriculars, and I am one of the lucky ones who has remained safe from COVID. There are certainly arguments to be made about the questionable morality of forcing students and teachers to show up when the district is not providing adequate testing or distancing facilities, during lunches, for example.

But these arguments were not made by those in charge of the protest and certainly not to the broader student body or teachers. It was even suggested that, as it was the day after MLK Day, and Black students would be participating in the protest, the walkout would be safe from administrator interference. This suggestion certainly put a bad taste in my mouth—it sounds uncomfortably close to using Black students to protect their movement (though I understand it was led at least in part by Black students).

Perhaps if we are claiming protection from MLK Day, we should listen to his words: In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s “Letter From A Birmingham Jail,” he states,“In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action.”

I admire my fellow students for their participation in the fourth step, but where were the others?

DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the various authors in this paper do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of Kamiak High School or The Gauntlet.