Let Students Be Heard! - A Series of Protests at DLA
Headlines tend to cover mainly the adult perspective when it comes to our government and politics but no one ever seems to give the youth a voice, and they have plenty to say.
On February 15, an email was sent out among the DLA student body with what seemed like a social media post that told students of immigrant families to not attend school the following day, and to use that as a form of protest. The protest didn’t apply to students alone. The protest, according to the attachment in the email, applied to any immigrant who lived in the US. Their part of the protest, similar to the student's’ part, was to not attend work, not eat in restaurants, not buy gas, and more. The intended purpose of doing these things was to show people what a day without immigrants would be like. This protest took place in response to Donald Trump’s immigration ban and alleged deportation threats, topics which have greatly contributed to the sudden divide in our country.
The following day, many students were missing in the various classes of Del Lago Academy. As observed by one student who wishes to remain anonymous, apparently one class comprised of only five people that day.
A few students were willing to voice their views on the protest that took place on February 16. However, they will remain semi-anonymous in order to protect their identities.
One freshman said, “Honestly, I think it’s their decision to protest. If they want to, they can. But I don’t think they should’ve skipped school. I understand that it was a protest, and people have a right to do that, but you wouldn’t wanna risk skipping school just because of a protest.”
Another freshman, who participated in the protest, also provided their input. “Personally, I just felt like we wanted to show people how much we are needed in our community. It’s not that we did it because we didn’t wanna go to school. We just wanted to show what we felt.”
Of course, people agreed and disagreed with the actions taken by these students who chose to protest. But some people felt so strongly about their views on this protest that they decided to hold a protest against it the next day at school, which was Friday, February 17. At lunch on a cold and windy Friday, students gathered in front of the theater carrying various posters and signs. Some signs contained messages dealing with the topic of immigration. Others were in the shape of hearts and carried the phrase “Spread Love, Not Hate.”
Acknowledging this sudden schoolwide divide, M.E.C.H.A. Club and the LGBT Straight Alliance Club came together and put on their own event in front of the theater, while the protest was taking place on the side. M.E.C.H.A. Club hung up a huge poster on the theater entrance doors. Written on the poster in big letters was a phrase that read “In Lak’ech.” According to M.E.C.H.A. Club, it’s a Mayan phrase which translates to “I am you, and you are me.” Below the phrase was a sentence that explained the meaning, along with another sentence that read, “If I hurt you, I am also hurting myself.”
The two clubs set up tables in front of the poster, where people were asked to write down positive messages on Post-It notes to stick onto the poster. While the clubs kept to the poster and all the protest commotion took place, DLA junior Jessica Harkleroad got her guitar and sang a few songs as part of the clubs’ event.
In spite of all the protesting and arguing, something beautiful came from it: a wonderful demonstration of youth using their voices. Overall, the in-school protest was entirely peaceful; no major fights broke out and violence wasn’t used in order to get one’s point across. Other than the protest, students took advantage of this in-school protest in order to spread messages of love and equality in the midst of this trying time.
So no matter one’s opinion, no matter one’s race, no matter one’s gender, no matter one’s age, just remember, “In Lak’ech.”