- Comment
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- From AwenDawn
- 11-28-2
-
- Hi Jeff,
-
- I live within 7-20 miles of the schools. In the case
of Petaluma High School, the penalty for cutting class - say for going
to the mall, beach, etc - is loss of credit for class or classes cut that
day...and that class work cannot be made up.
-
- These students are not being punished for cutting class
- which is what they did, they are being punished for "defiance",
Jeff , DEFIANCE.
-
- These are not 2 year olds, they are 17 and 18 year old
young adults who in six months will be eligible to "DIE" for
their country (i.e. the Bush Administration -ed). They protested before
the rally in a peaceful way to show solidarity on their feelings about
this impending military manuever (otherwise known as "WAR").
-
- Anyone who does not believe your discussions on the "Dumbing
Down" of America just read this article. By the way, Jeff, I probably
would would vote anyone of these students into public office today if I
could.
-
-
- Petaluma Suspends 50 Student Protesters
-
- By Jose L. Sanchez, Jr. and Robert Digitale
- The Press Democrat
- 11-26-02
-
- About 50 Petaluma High School students who walked out
of classes Wednesday to protest U.S. policy on Iraq have received one-day
suspensions.
-
- Some students and their parents said Monday the suspensions
were unfair because students at other Sonoma County high schools who also
staged protest walkouts were not suspended.
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- Petaluma school officials did not make the decision "lightly
or capriciously," said Tom Joynt, director of alternative education
and child welfare and attendance.
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- "It's the obligation of the principal to ensure
compliance with attendance rules," he said.
-
- "I am heartened that young people are learning the
responsibility of being a citizen, which often means dissent from popular
opinion," Joynt said.
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- But he said the protesters also learned another lesson:
"Civil disobedience can have a consequence, such as in this case suspension."
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- Allowing students to walk out without consequences would
set a bad precedent, he said.
-
- Petaluma High officials said they provided other opportunities
for the protesters to express their views, but they have an obligation
to maintain order at the 1,540-student campus.
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- "I don't think we should have been suspended,"
said Rosie Heartte, 17, one of the protesters. "One of our main purposes
was to educate students about the issue and we did that."
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- "If we go to war, it's absolute that innocent civilians
are going to die and that young Americans will be sent over to fight,"
she said. "We need to explore other options, continue to make use
of the U.N."
-
- The walkout occurred at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, a half-hour
before a rally organized by school officials in the school's open-air quadrangle
to give students a chance to express their views on Iraq.
-
- Students who walked out of their classes early were guided
by school officials to the multipurpose room, where they listened peacefully
to several speakers.
-
- On Thursday, the students who had walked out were summoned
by school officials and told they would be be suspended for one day Monday.
-
- "What is very sad ... is that these are young adults
who attempted to negotiate with the administration prior to walking out
and they were completely shut down," said Rachelle Heartte, Rosie's
mother.
-
- Petaluma High Principal Michael Simpson said he made
every attempt to offer students an alternative to the walkout and to urge
them to remain in class.
-
- He spoke to students that morning over the school's intercom
system as part of the daily announcements.
-
- "I did tell them that if they walked, there would
be consequences," he said.
-
- In addition to arranging for the lunchtime rally Wednesday,
Simpson is providing a forum today for the expression of views on Iraq.
-
- About 150 students from Santa Rosa High walked out of
classes at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday and marched to a downtown rally in Old
Courthouse Square, administrators said. None of those students was suspended,
Assistant Principal Bill Blackerby said.
-
- He said that the students were given unexcused absences
and that officials never considered suspending the protesters.
-
- None of the estimated 60 to 70 students who walked out
of classes at Analy High School in Sebastopol was suspended, officials
there said.
-
- The walkouts and rallies were part of a national Student
Day of Resistance initiated by Not in Our Name, an anti-war group founded
after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to protest U.S. foreign policy.
-
- Carl Wong, former superintendent of Petaluma city schools
and the superintendent-elect of Sonoma County schools, said school districts
across the county were notified by students of their intentions to stage
the anti-war protests.
-
- He said students were warned that if they participated
in the walkouts, there would be a range of possible consequences for leaving
class without an excuse.
-
- Wong said some teachers used the coming protest as a
"teachable moment," talking about the protest and asking students
to consider their choices.
-
- Rosie Steffy, 17, one of the Petaluma walkout organizers,
said suspension was a price she was willing to pay to bring attention to
an issue she considers vitally important.
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- Without the suspensions, the issue would not have received
as much attention from the press, she said.
-
- "I do think (the suspensions are) reasonable,"
she said. "But I can't help wondering why the other schools didn't
see it the same way."
-
- Staff Writer Randi Rossmann contributed to this story.
You can reach Staff Writers Jose L. Sanchez Jr. at 762-7297 or jsanchez@pressdemocrat.com
and Robert Digitale at 521-5285 or <mailto:rdigitale@pressdemocrat.com>rdigitale@pressdemocrat.com.
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