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Dc schools walkout 2 21 03 { February 22 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45312-2003Feb21.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45312-2003Feb21.html
Taking Off School To Push for Peace
Students Protest Moves Against Iraq
By Manny Fernandez and Monte Reel
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, February 22, 2003; Page B02
Teenagers from about a dozen District and Maryland schools marched through downtown Washington yesterday in a vocal and peaceful protest against a military strike in Iraq.
The young protesters, who began their day with a rally at Dupont Circle, described any war with Iraq as unjustified. They said a military strike would take away money needed in schools and further punish Iraqi civilians who have suffered through a decade of U.S.-backed economic sanctions.
The students climbed atop the snow-covered fountain in Dupont Circle, gave impromptu antiwar speeches and denounced military recruiting. Someone waved a sign reading, "If war is inevitable . . . start drafting SUV drivers now!" as James Doubek, 17, a senior at School Without Walls, addressed the crowd.
"We are here for a reason. We are not here to miss class. We are here to say that what the president wants . . . is wrong," yelled Doubek, a member of the student antiwar group that organized the event, D.C. Area Students for Peace.
The group, made up of about 20 high school students, was formed during the five-week process of planning the demonstration. The protest coincided with scattered student walkouts on both coasts called by the International ANSWER coalition.
The students in yesterday's protest cut class or sacrificed a snow day from a mix of public and private schools -- Sidwell Friends, Edmund Burke, Bethesda-Chevy Chase, School Without Walls, Woodrow Wilson, Georgetown Day.
Montgomery County public school students had the day off because of the lingering effects of Sunday's snowstorm, but students at the D.C. public and private schools did not. The District teenagers left their schools about 11:30 a.m. and joined up with their Montgomery County colleagues at Dupont Circle, where the crowd grew to about 400 when the police-escorted march began about 1 p.m.
"My attitude to this event is I'm willing to put whatever it takes on the line," said Lily Hughes-Dunn, 17, a senior at Burke High in Northwest Washington and a student organizer who skipped out on four classes to make her antiwar statement. "I'd be willing to risk suspension, expulsion, whatever it takes. I think that war is absolutely not the solution in any situation. I'm against it on all terms."
Student protesters said close to 200 walked out from about eight D.C. schools. Officials at several schools said they did not have a precise number of student walkouts.
Some students said they told their teachers and school administrators about their plans. "We talked to our government and politics teacher and told her this was government and politics in action," said Georgetown Day senior Michael Gentile, 17. Other students said their parents signed permission slips to attend the protest, and at least one protester, a 14-year-old student at Bethesda-Chevy Chase, came with Mom.
"They're very committed, very responsible kids," said an impressed Cindy Morgan-Jaffe, 45, who marched alongside her daughter, Rosie Jaffe.
Sidwell Friends students brought their own special guest -- Bryan Garman, principal of the upper school. "The school is supportive of the students' participation," said Ellis Turner, associate head of school. "We encourage students to follow their conscience."
It was the second major student walkout in the Washington area since January. Fifty to 100 students at Wilson and neighboring Alice Deal Junior High sat out some or all of their classes Jan. 14 to protest an Iraq war. The student-led protest occurred without incident and without harsh penalties: Wilson students said they were given 20 minutes of detention.
The potential war in Iraq has become a growing topic of debate at Georgetown Day, said school head Peter Branch. "I think there has been more vocal expression over the years for some other issues than on this one, but I think it's building," he said.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
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