Students plan to organize walkout over abortion

Students at Rocklin High School in Sacramento, California are planning a pro-life walkout to protest abortion, and the millions of lives it takes. Thr protest was inspired by a school history teacher who suggested there was a double standard for protests in the nation. 

Rocklin High students are planning a walkout over abortion.

Highlights

By Marshall Connolly (Catholic Online)
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
3/22/2018 (6 years ago)

Published in U.S.

Keywords: Rocklin High School, abortion, walkout protest

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - On March 14, thousands of students walked out of classrooms across the nation, protesting gun violence in their schools. In response, Julianne Benzel, a history teacher at Rocklin High School in Sacrament, California, suggested a walkout to protest abortion. 

The point of her question was to suggest that a double standard exists in our society when it comes to protesting. Liberals can protest their causes and are praised for doing so, but conservatives cannot. 

Her school supported the walkout on March 14. 

When students began organizing the protest, there was an outcry from students and parents. That complaint caused the school to place Benzel on administrative leave. 

The public rallied to support Benzel and the school eventually permitted Benzel to return to the classroom and her students. 

Students still want to organize a 17-minute walkout at their school to protest abortion, but no date has been set. Brandon Gillespie, a student at Rockland High will be meeting with the school principal on Friday to discuss the prospect of scheduling the walkout. 

Schools have an obligation to keep children safe and in their classrooms during school hours. However, they also have a mission to educate students and part of that education includes civics. Civics includes the right of people to protest. 

Another cornerstone of American society is fairness. If students can walk out over gun violence, why not over abortion? Abortion takes many, many more lives than school shootings. 

Schools must balance these competing interests. But they cannot hold a double standard. If students may exercise their First Amendment right to protest violence, then why not all violence? Abortion is certainly violence. In fact, it can be argued that abortion is the root of the violence that today manifests itself in school shootings. If we do not respect life in the womb, then how can we expect people to respect life anywhere else? 

It is commendable that Benzel has returned to her work and that the school is meeting with students to work out a plan. It is most commendable to see students paying attention to the root causes of problems in our society and seeking to address them. Let's hope their protest goes viral and changes the conversation from a national concern over symptoms to causes. 

How about a school walkout against abortion? #Life

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'