CULTURE

Schools Nationwide Threaten Students with Suspension for Student Protests

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More than a week after the tragedy, there are protests breaking out all across the country.

After Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, students have gathered to protest gun violence. After taking to the news of the death of 17, the survivors have taken to the podiums and television sets in order to make their voices heard. However, not all systems are compliant.

Schools in the Texas district of Needville have announced that walkouts and gun reform protests will constitute student suspensions of three days, and they are not alone.

In a public statement, the Needville ISD Superintendent Curtis Rhodes wrote a letter to the students and parents that read, “Should students choose to do so, they will be suspended from school for 3 days and face all the consequences that com along with an out of school suspension.”


The news comes during a time of a national mourning that has become a social movement. With a dominating discourse surrounding the issue of gun control, the news of schools extending their power to limit students begs the question: when do schools have the right to impede on the activism of their students?