Civil Disobedience In Schools

Children sit in schools all across America and are urged to standing up to bullies – told how one person, no matter how small, can benefit the present and the future with his or her actions or words. Children return home at night all across America to hear snippets of the news from the kitchen table: a racial protest on yet another college campus, a terrorist attack overseas, and a new report delineating the disadvantages women face in the workplace. Children all across America stage a class walk-out, just to be met by stern-faced officials pointing fingers, scolding them, and telling them they cannot disobey – can never disobey.

Those children across the United States are told two juxtaposing convictions: (1) they must always stand up for …show more content…
The United States wouldn’t be the thriving global superpower it is without commissions like the FDIC, CFTC, and OCC. And, yes, civilians should follow the rules governing our existence meticulously. However, there are cases in which civil disobedience is, in fact, important – and necessary. In the words of our own Declaration of Independence, whenever there becomes “a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is [the people’s] right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government.” For all of the effective guidance and leadership the laws of the land provide – and our Founding Fathers acknowledged this and condemned any “transience” whenever laws and governments were considered simply hassles – there is also reason to doubt the integrity of those leading the country, to break the laws or, in the case of the Revolutionary War, to usurp the government and supplant it. Therefore, civil disobedience, depending on the inspiration for its occurrence, can be either advantageous or pejorative to …show more content…
However, not all violent efforts are deleterious. For instance, just this past year, a custodian at Yale University smashed a stained glass window depicting slavery on the campus. The act was, of course, violent and illegal and categorized as civil disobedience. But, the act also exemplifies the category of rebellion that pushes society forward and past those roadblocks in our past that weigh us down and prevent us from reaching our future goal – equality for all. Another violent protest occurred last year in Charlotte, North Carolina, after the fatal shooting of an African-American man. However, the group grew quickly to angry unrest, injuring police officers and committing arson on the