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  • 2018-03-18 (xsd:date)
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  • Was a Student Suspended for Staying in Class During National Walkout Day? (en)
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  • On 17 March 2018, Fox News published a news story reporting that a high school student in Ohio had been suspended for not joining his classmates and participating in a walkout protest over gun violence: This story was widely shared on social media, and some viewers who did not read it carefully (or at all) mistakenly inferred from it that Shoemaker had been suspended for opposing the protest and/or taking a pro-gun rights stance. But as the original noted, Shoemaker said he didn’t want to take sides in the gun-control debate and he was suspended not for refusing to participate, but for remain[ing] in a classroom instead of joining protests or the alternative, going to study hall. That last aspect was a key point, one that led to much online posturing and argument over what had actually occurred, according to the school district and the Shoemakers: The crux of the dispute was that Jacob wasn't literally suspended for not joining in the protest. Rather, he was offered the choice of taking part in the walkout along with his classmates or sitting out the event in study hall, but he felt that following either course of action was tantamount to taking sides, so he opted to remain in his classroom during the protest. According to his father, Jacob was then suspended for failing to follow instructions: Scott Shoemaker also posted on Facebook to say that his son had essentially been punished for not wanting to choose a side: A school district spokesperson couldn't state the specific reasons behind Jacob's punishment, but she confirmed that he was suspended and strongly suggested the reason for his suspension was the one voiced by Jacob's father: The school district also posted a statement asserting that the walkouts were memorial events to show support for fellow students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School which were not political in nature, that no one was disciplined for not participating, and that policy requires they do not leave students unattended in classrooms: The Columbus Dispatch quoted Hilliard's spokesperson as lamenting that We purposely let these students create these events to allow students to mourn and to avoid the politics, and now here we are getting taken to task for this. It’s a bit of a shame. (en)
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