#school protest

Student protest and good for them!

I'm proud as fuck of you.

Thank you for excercising your right to protest and stand up for a better future.

National School Walkout— March 14th, 2018

The turnout for my high school was phenomenal— nearing 200 participants, with over a dozen students giving speeches to the crowd both in remembrance of the 17 Parkland victims and in calling for gun control and more proactive school shooting prevention. 

Never have I felt such pride to be a part of my student body as I did today. For the first time I could feel what it meant to be an active participator in demanding change. To know that the actions of individuals like me could make a difference in this world we are just beginning to enter. 

Our school did a poor job for our Walk Out. Not only did they confine students to the gym, we were told we were having a silent protest. First of all, how dare you. How dare you silence us. How dare you silence our voices. This is my generation and this is the sad and unfortunate issue we have to live through everyday. While most of the schools across the nation are walking out and protesting and showing the world that we want a change, my school decides to confine us and silence us.

Let's start with the basics.

The computers administered to the students are MacBooks given to the school thanks to a grant from Apple sometime before 2013 in order to kick off a "one-to-one" program that included a class on Mobile App development using Swift, Apple's main programming language. Each year, every student, starting from the sixth grade (which can't take them home until the next year), must pay $80 for insurance. There is a slight discount for siblings, but only by a few dollars. There are payment plans, but only a few students actually need to use the insurance each year. Being a poor district, many students qualify for free and reduced lunches (including myself), which, for whatever reason, does not apply to the laptops.

Now, I understand the need for insurance. The students are essentially borrowing/renting a laptop from the school. That's fine. However, there is a suspicious air of secrecy surrounding the money and who actually owns them. It's also suspicious as to why I can't sign a sort of trust form proving I won't watch porn or search up how to build a bomb and actually use it for class. It worked last year when I was on the Edgenuity program (uuggghh...), and so I thought I'd go ahead and take it up a notch by physically taking the laptop that I own and have full and complete responsibility for, to school. My only problem? No internet. I do, however, have a mobile hotspot that only comes at a bill charge of 10 dollars a month.

With my protest, I am also saying I no longer consent to using products from companies I no longer agree with, such as Apple for their over-pricing and forced obsolescence of multiple older iOS devices, as well as shady business practices regarding anti-3rd party repairs and certain patents/trademarks (circle pizza boxes, anyone?). Another is Google, and I don't think I have to explain much about that.

Here's some of my concerns before I lay out any evidences.

The owners of the laptops aren't specified (though they are most likely the school's).

The insurance provider isn't specified

What makes this different/what separates this from free & reduced lunch?

Obviously, it's not illegal to bring my own laptop to school, so there's none of that. However, I fear that I might be expelled.

Here are some possible claims and my response:

"It's not fair to other students" Then make it so it is.

"We want to control what you're doing online" I can't look up the word "sex," even though I was looking up sex-differences. Besides, I just realized we never had a proper health class 0-0. Only middle school biology and the puberty talk. Besides, what am I gonna do with a graphics tablet? Draw porn?

"Apple gave us these computers and it's a breach of contract." Not my problem - online school is looking pretty sweet. Besides, why would Apple, a multi-million dollar company, care if I use my computer to do schoolwork? Besides, you use solely Windows OS in the Technology class, and even have Surface desktops for another class.

"We'd have to give you the wifi password" Yeah, the one with the firewall, which doesn't usually work at my house. Who do you think I am?

"You just want to feel special." No, I just don't want to pay 80 dollars.

"How would you do your work?" All of our stuff is done with the Google suite anyhow.

"You're the student, and we're the teachers/admins." I don't have a job, therefore it's my parents paying. You know our current financial situation. Technically, you work for my family and I, so I can simply change public schools FOR FREE if I have to (or I could get my GED, get my GPA score up through community College, and do as I please).

"We'll suspend/expell you." Same difference as getting fired, from my understanding. Looks bad in some areas, but I have a whole life ahead of me to make up for it. (And all because I don't want to use a school issued laptop).

Say they call me out on using Apple and Google products (I. e. Things that I OWN, watching YouTube, etc, etc). One, that means I have experience. 2, Google is unavoidable, and the other sites are typically full of far-right politics. The only one I find good is Odysee.com, and I barely use it.

"We'll suspend your Google account" don't worry. I have multiple back up emails.

"Yahoo is just as bad as Google." Last time I checked, Yahoo isn't conhorting with the CCP to develop facial recognition technologies like Google is.

"It is against school policy"

"It's like buying school supplies." I like to reuse my supplies each year. Besides, my $500 dollar laptop (given as a birthday gift by my lovely, amazing grandparents, with a bit of lawn mowing) has 360 rotation and a touchscreen, and is my sole responsibility. If I do anything bad to it, I have to either pay for repairs or get a new one. If anything, the computers you provide are a crutch to real responsibility and personal accountability. (Besides, looking at porn already has negative consequences.)

I also want to bring up West Virginia BoE v. Bennett, with the ruling that it is illegal to fine parents and suspend students for not saying the U.S. pledge, as patriotism is an opinion. Because of my opinion of Apple and the school's choice to force all students of any kind (especially those on poverty programs) to use school issued computers that they MUST pay up 76-80 dollars every year on insurance, totalling up to $480.

Also, here's the entire computer policy:

*As of this year, students have to carry backpacks as lockers have been done away with due to decreased locker usage.