Ohio Student Suspended for Refusing to Leave Classroom During Gun Control Walkout

A high school student in Hilliard, Ohio, didn’t want to pick sides in the contentious gun debate surrounding Wednesday’s “National Walkout,” so he stayed in class instead of joining the largely anti-gun protest or an alternative “study hall.”

Hilliard Davidson High School senior Jacob Shoemaker was then reportedly slapped with a suspension.

The student argued that divisive politics have no place in America’s schools and he refused to take sides in the debate, according to the Associated Press.

Shoemaker's suspension citation was posted online, possibly by a friend, and the story quickly went viral.

“Student refused to follow instructions after being warned repeatedly by several administrators,” the letter said. “Student not permitted on school property.”

School district spokesperson Stacie Raterman said official policy prohibited school officials from leaving Shoemaker unattended in the building for “security reasons,” 10TV reported.

While Shoemaker said he didn't expect for his actions to generate so much attention, he is prepared to accept the consequences of his decision.

Source

"Hey you! Quit learning and go screech outside like all the other pawns."

 

[Absolutego]

Anyone else find it extremely disconcerting that students leaving a government institution with its approval to go espouse a government-backed political opinion is being framed as a rebellious political protest, but the student who doesn't want to go parrot the party line is being suspended?

Also @Lunete your source link is broken

 

[RadicalCentrist]

Anyone else find it extremely disconcerting that students leaving a government institution with its approval to go espouse a government-backed political opinion is being framed as a rebellious political protest, but the student who doesn't want to go parrot the party line is being suspended?

Welcome to 1984: Boring Reality edition

 

[Anonymus Fluhre]

Seems like the school board is making excuses so they don't look like idiots. Least the kid was smart and stuck to his own morals and not that of the teachers.

 

[Maggots on a Train]

IMO you can't really call it a "walk out" if it's mandatory and as planned as a field trip.

 

[Kari Kamiya]

I totally get his decision and the punishment is stupid (even with the apparent multiple warnings), but there was an alternative study hall he could've gone to instead, unless "study hall" is actually code word for "guilt tripping students who do not want to protest".

 

[Lunete]

Anyone else find it extremely disconcerting that students leaving a government institution with its approval to go espouse a government-backed political opinion is being framed as a rebellious political protest, but the student who doesn't want to go parrot the party line is being suspended?

Also @Lunete your source link is broken

I goofed:
https://ijr.com/2018/03/1076385-ohio-student-suspended-refusing-to-leave-classroom/

 

[Tranhuviya]

The student argued that divisive politics have no place in America’s schools and he refused to take sides in the debate, according to the Associated Press.

He's right. Teachers who encourage this crap, left or right, should be fucking fired.

 

[REGENDarySumanai]

One more reason to destroy public schools. Kids are supposed to learn, not become pawns.

 

[nyess]

It's ok, US high schools are a joke and those kids are probably not going to have great futures anyway

 

[Orkeosaurus]

This is just going to help him out in the long run. Hello Tucker Carlson interview. Instant Young Republican cred when he goes to college too.

 

[dunbrine47]

Hopefully he was able to enjoy and do something productive with his suspension time.

 

[Slap47]

This is just going to help him out in the long run. Hello Tucker Carlson interview. Instant Young Republican cred when he goes to college too.

He wasn't being pro gun by choosing to stay in class so that probably won't happen.

 

[Replicant Sasquatch]

This is just going to help him out in the long run. Hello Tucker Carlson interview. Instant Young Republican cred when he goes to college too.

Im waiting for Trump to tweet at him saying "Cool opinion, Bobby. Bring it to the White House"

 

[Ponderous Pillock]

I totally get his decision and the punishment is stupid (even with the apparent multiple warnings), but there was an alternative study hall he could've gone to instead, unless "study hall" is actually code word for "guilt tripping students who do not want to protest".

More than likely they turfed over the Gym Hall, stuffed it with desks, then placed or or two teachers in it to look after whatever number of students didn't want to act on Teacher's orders and skip class for a bit to scream pointlessly about something.

Ya know, the nice, big, mostly windowless building so whatever cameras turn up don't spot diligent students still wanting to study and not participate in an idiotic publicity stunt?

 

[Chan the Wizard]

It was easier for the schools to support the protest than to punish all the students involved. What a lame rebellion. They were pacified and didn’t even notice.

 

[Lusiak]

quite frankly i find it sad that students are forced to do stuff just to support something they may not even agree with. glad this kid stayed in class, he shouldn't even be punished in my opinion.

 

[Munchingonfish]

His classmates just missed a period. He's missing multiple days of school.

Woke.

 

[Diana Moon Glampers]

If there's no chance whatsoever that you'll get in trouble for doing it, walk-outs may still be "protests," but they're in no way what walkouts/sit-ins/etc. originally were designed as, which is civil disobedience.

The entire point of civil disobedience is to say "to me, it's worth taking this action even if it means I'll end up in trouble. In fact, I want to be in trouble, because the fact that the government cares enough about someone protesting like this to slap me with punishment just adds to my case that the current state of affairs is absurd or untenable."

If it's not civil disobedience, it can't possibly have the impact they're supposedly working toward. What I really see in this walkout protest is a way to give any politically-minded students who are outraged about guns or whatever a "pressure release valve" so they feel like they did something and can get back to their schoolwork without feeling like they're just being passive.

 

[thismanlies]

The Washington Post is trying to defend the school.

Jacob Shoemaker, a senior at Hilliard Davidson High School in Hilliard, Ohio, was in fact suspended. But not because he chose not to join his classmates and the hundreds of thousands of students across the country who walked out of their classrooms to protest gun violence in the wake of a Florida school shooting that left 17 people dead. It was because he didn’t go to a designated area of the school where the non-protesters were supposed to be and instead stayed by himself in a classroom.

In other words, kids who didn't want to participate in the walkout were forced to walk out anyway. He was the only kid in that school smart enough to figure it out.