I've been reading quite a bit recently about students organizing to protest the war. From what I've seen, the general approach by the schools has been to allow walkouts so that students could exercise their rights to free speech and assembly but make sure they were aware of the consequences of leaving class (unexcused absence, etc.).
I disagree with Paul's assumption that these ideas must have been planted by parents or teachers. Not long ago, there was a group of middle-school students in St. Paul that organized their classmates to walk out of class to meet in the auditorium for a war discussion all by themselves - how hard could it be to organize a walkout? With kids, you don't even need fliers, word of mouth will do the job just fine and all they have to know is what time to stand up and where to meet outside. Maybe some got help from parents with making signs, but so what? As far as traffic is concerned, I don't know where Field Elementary is, but I remember managing that nifty stoplight contraption in kindergarten when I had to cross Johnson St as I walked over to the old Pillsbury Elementary with my best buddy back in the late 1970's. Though we did have his older brothers who were in second and third grade with us, so I guess I shouldn't brag too much. As a volunteer with an elementary school in St. Paul for the past five years, I've seen some pretty darn intelligent and mature students - hardly a collective group with their "heads filled with mush." I believe that description should be reserved for our "leaders" in Washington DC. The students at Field Elementary should be commended. Mark Snyder Windom Park TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
