It’s safe to say that America is currently in political turmoil. Shockingly, it’s not just adults who are feeling the pressure. Children now feel the need to take action and show their stance. It’s not rare to hear news of students holding walkouts as a form of protest against ICE. Students from Robert E. Fitch Senior High School in Groton, Connecticut, have also planned another walkout to show their dissatisfaction with ICE.
However, one student, Dylan, recently shared that the administration has issues with their plan. He showed the email he received from the principal, who warned that students leaving the school grounds would face disciplinary actions. The Connecticut student claimed that this email demonstrated that the school cared more about itself than its students. He said the school had yet to share an ICE plan, despite having many immigrant students or students with immigrant parents. Dylan also mentioned that ICE agents were often seen patrolling school grounds in Minnesota and felt it would not be long before they visited their school.
Dylan further criticized the school for offering to hold an assembly inside the school, which he found useless since it would not deliver the message the students in Connecticut wanted to share. In another video, the student provided an update, saying the school was angry at him for publicizing the email, calling it misinformation. The administration also claimed that the school did have an ICE plan, but Dylan retorted that if it existed, why had neither students nor parents been informed of it in the first place? He also mentioned that they had asked the Groton Police to help ensure students’ safety during the walkout, but the police refused to provide any assistance.
Online, many people applauded the Connecticut students for performing the walkout. They agreed that everyone should speak up against ICE and ignore any threats from the school administration. “Detention won’t matter in the long run,” one user said.
There were also users who argued that the Connecticut school was not entirely wrong and that these were simply the consequences of the students’ actions. One commenter wrote, “This is the sacrifice that is made for civil disobedience. You have to be willing to bear the consequences for having your voice heard, having an issue noticed, or effecting change. If it’s worth it, you do it anyway. Sometimes doing the right thing is painful. The fight for civil rights was bloody, and many were arrested.”
