The San Mateo school walk out, budding hypocrites?

I'll offer a positive note. My daughter participated in the walk-out, and it ended up creating an opportunity for a much deeper conversation between us about immigration. I wanted her to know more about both sides of the issue before she making a decision to protest a policy or position.

What's surprising, and discouraging, to me was how little she knew about some basic concepts, like the fact that there are established pathways for legal immigration or how other countries have more strict enforcement. She’s a straight-A high school student, and her grandmother immigrated from Latin America, so that gap in foundational knowledge really struck me. It also made me wonder what many other students might be missing and how this is a direct result of schools giving up on civics long ago.

By the end of our talk, she said she still wanted to attend the walk-out, but for a more specific reason. She disagreed with certain ICE tactics. She didn’t frame it as support for open borders or that immigration enforcement is inherently racist. From my perspective, that was a win. She clarified her own thinking instead of adopting a position based on peer pressure or teacher-led bias.

Scott - the woke crowd is still in power here and the school administrators should be called on the carpet. My granddaughter is a freshman at a public HS in the East Bay and came home with a note from the principal that only students who are authorized by their parents to walk out can do so. None of the faculty and administration is authorized to participate. If they do, they are subject to discipline and the students would be marked as truant. So, there is still hope in the Bay Area, it all depends on where one lives. Actually, one of her classmates held a sign stating "stolen land". She is a pathetic resident of a country club. It confirms what you say, these kids are clueless, as are some of their parents and many of their teachers.

Thanks for your letter, Mr. Abramson. There’s a reason California rates in the bottom 10 states in terms of K-12 academic performance even though they’re among the top 20 states in school funding. Silly antics taking away from education time. Let’s hope there’s plenty of video and photos in social media so we can tie students to these protests. And let’s hope prospective college admissions officers or employers view, or use AI, to screen social media posts to determine whether these students are worthy of placement in their college or place of business. A massive walkout of offers to these students, if you will.

Great point Scott. While some kids are "true believers", most just wanted to feel important and have an afternoon off. And even the true believers can't answer basic questions about immigration policy: What (Democrat passed) immigration laws do you think we should enforce? If ICE is abolished, what replaces it? Should we have open borders? Why is the US different from every other country that enforces its borders? Should anyone who gets into the country be allowed to take advantage of our welfare programs such as SNAP and Medicaid? (And if so how is this financially sustainable for the US?) Why was it OK for Obama to deport millions of illegal immigrants but not OK for Trump to deport far fewer? Should even those who come here illegally and commit other crimes be allowed to stay? Why was Tom Homan a hero under Obama and a "Nazi" now? If "No one is illegal on stolen land" (A sign seen at the protests), what have you done to give land back to the Ohlone people (or whoever they "stole" it from?)

Sadly there was no nuanced, thoughtful discussion in the schools regarding these issues. Just memes, slogans, chanting and yelling. But I'm sure the kids felt great saving the world!