Protesting with Purpose
By PIERCE D. WILSON ’19
Recently, hundreds of thousands of students from across the world striked from school in an effort to push their governments to get serious about climate change. Milton was out of session on March 15, when the largest of these protests took place, but I chose to attend the Youth Climate Strike in Ann Arbor, MI. I spent that morning waiting around in my pajamas while Faith, a childhood friend of mine, took a math test. At around 9:15, Faith arrived at my house and we drove to downtown Ann Arbor. The protest had a profound impact on me and drew attention from local news outlets.
Despite the protest’s large turnout and efficacy, I felt something was off with my own participation throughout the entire event. Many students talked about which class they were missing, what punishments they were to incur upon returning to school, how they feared they were missing important material in class, or how they couldn’t tell their parents that they were at the protests.
I slept in that day. My parents knew I was there and were fine with my protesting so long as I washed the dishes before I left. Each time someone told me about their fear of consequences from school, I’d awkwardly explain that I didn’t have school, and that the only thing I was worried about was whether or not I could make it home in time to watch The Blacklist. Throughout all of these conversations, I couldn’t help but feel my participation detracted from the demonstration, even if, numbers-wise, it didn’t matter if I did or did not have school.
Every protest needs numbers to be successful, but what determines the impact of a protest is how much its participants are willing to sacrifice for their cause. In the case of Fridays for The Future, demonstrators are willing to risk their education and consequences like detention, suspension, and expulsion in order to send a message. In the United States, public schools are funded by tax dollars, and student strikes therefore grab the attention of teachers, state employees, and legislators. The message says, “Until you prioritize climate change, I refuse to go to school,” even though most states require youths to attend school until they are 15 years old and an educated youthbase is good for the health of the country. Students are letting legislators know that climate change, and thus the future, is more important than their education and any potential consequences.
In the spring of 2017, we held a protest on campus over the administration’s failure to adequately condemn racism on campus. During the first day, many teachers gave cuts to students who participated—some because they didn’t know about the sit-ins, and some because they didn’t understand the intentions, among other reasons. However, by the second day of the protests, Academic Dean Jackie Bonenfant had clarified that students out of class for protests would not receive class cuts, detentions, or other consequences. These protests were still extremely effective, and waiving class cuts allowed more students to participate (especially given that a student’s receiving six class cuts results in a Discipline Committee).
Looking back, though, I almost wish teachers had given class cuts. Waiving consequences allows people who don’t care to participate, but raising the stakes trims a movement down to the the people who are passionate about it. Telling our administration that we were willing to not attend class in order to get their attention but then turning around and asking them not to punish us might have weakened our message.
On April 19, 2019, students from Milton and dozens of local schools will strike from class to protest the Weymouth Compressor Station and pressure legislators to support the Green New Deal. This demonstration was organized by members of the Independent School Sustainability Coalition (ISSC) in coordination with members of Milton’s environmental groups.
In this case, too, the Milton organizers had administrators sanction the protest not only by waiving class cuts but also by chartering Milton vans to and from the protest in Boston Common. And, in asking administrators to do so, organizers of the strike have cast aside much of the potential impact the strike may have had. Now, it’s hardly a protest, but rather a day of missing classes and rallying at the same time. If we’re not willing to incur the consequences of missing school, why wouldn’t we just do it on a day when class is not in session?
Given that Milton is a private school, I wonder what message we’d be sending to our administrators by striking on the 19th? With the 2017 protests, at least the issue we were striking for was one that the administrators had control over. But, in this case, it feels as though we’d just be choosing to protest the government’s inaction against climate change—an issue which does require protest on day which also allows us to miss classes. Organizers of the protest claim they want to “show politicians how much [they’re] willing to risk,” but are we truly risking anything if our school is endorsing us?
In no way do I mean to invalidate the April 19 protest. I’m an avid environmentalist and a founding member of the planning organization, ISSC. I’ve been to several environmentalist demonstrations and have also organized such events at Milton. However, I do want to encourage all those who are considering participating to also ponder the implications of striking at private school and asking for immunity from consequences.
Protest is one of the most meaningful ways to fight for the change we hope to see in the world, but it also requires clear intent and messaging. We must consider how opponents might poke holes in any protest.
I, for one, do not yet know whether or not I will participate in the strike on April 19. Still, I hope that those who do are sure of their choices and don’t expect to protest with impunity. For those who choose not to participate, Sustainability @ Milton is working on ways for you to get involved in local activism from the comfort of campus, so stay tuned!
Image Courtesy of Google Images