I’m reblogging this again because I wanted to add a note: PROTEST ANYWAYS.
If your schools threaten to suspend you, protest anyways. En masse. Because you know what gets tracked by district, state and federal administration? Suspensions.
Schools and schools systems *must report* their suspension levels etc. Every year all this data from the state gets compiled into a huge report and presented to the State Board of Education and the state legislators. By. School.
You know what happens to schools districts with unusually high rates? Big Trouble.
So if your principal/superintendent threatens to suspend any student participating in a walkout? Still do it. Because here’s what will happen: You’ll walk out, get suspended, the school will be empty basically for *days* effectively starting a strike, the principal will have to report it to the district, the district will have to report it to the state and there’s a solid chance your school’s administrative team could be replaced.
YOU HOLD ALL THE CARDS HERE. Don’t let them think otherwise. There is literally nothing they can threaten you with that won’t come back to bite them square in the ass.
if your school is like mine was and authority figures squawk about “your permanent record”, please keep in mind
i’ve never seen evidence that postsecondary schools or potential employers can see disciplinary records from your school days
if they can, tell the truth, calmly and professionally. “yes, that week of suspensions was over the 2018 Student Walkout (or whatever it ends up being called), we were peacefully protesting the lack of action against gun violence in schools.” if the school/workplace is any kind of decent, they’ll understand that.
