Lunchtime Anti-War Protest Excites Community, Several Illinois High School Students Face Expulsion Options

[NoSex]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/c...hi_tab01_layout

There are a good number of issues at hand here, a lot worth discussion.

1. Is it an amendment right to protest, actively, during school hours on school property?
2. If the behavior required punishment, what would or would not be appropriate?
3. How much more disruptive is such behavior in comparison to Army recruiters roaming the halls?
4. What level of prejudice, if any, is at work here?
5. Is such behavior conductive to activism?
6. Do we detect liberal biases within this article?
7. Do we detect conservative biases within the school administration?

I'm really curious as to the exact nature of the protest - it almost appears as if they children held a "sit-in" during lunch and refused to move from their positions when asked. This, to me, just appears to be too much. Even worse, they're singing Lennon. Activism is fun, and sometimes useful, but, whoever had the idea to stage this the way they did, did so for pure theatrics - they knew they would be hassled and they were searching for controversy. There are more meaningful and appropriate times to actively protest - if you were asked to attend class and refused, it is entirely in the school's power to punish you for absenteeism and truancy. But, this is where I diverge - these kids don't deserve expulsion. They're just morons who think they're making a difference (sort of cool, sort of not). At this point, the school just seems to be politicizing the events - I smell administrative biases. Largely, especially given the media attention, I doubt these kids will suffer much, however, the level of punishment, to me, still seems quite extreme.

All in all - f**k high school army recruiters.