Teens don’t exist in a bubble

Columbia Gorge News observed each walkout, and the sheer amount of insulting — sometimes profane — statements directed at these students from adults across our communities, both in person and on social media, was disheartening.

Regardless of your ideology, infantilizing or threatening teenagers for demonstrating their right to free speech and expression should be a red line. Full stop.

These protests were student-inspired, student-organized and non-compulsory. Neither school administration encourages events that disrupt instructional time, and to suggest that teachers or staff “indoctrinated” students into doing so is disingenuous to their lived experience, not to mention their intelligence.

A speaker explicitly cited the loss of “people who work in our orchards, our restaurants, our schools and our homes” as a driving factor behind Hood River’s walkout. That some can’t recognize how the shared fear, the weight of potentially losing a parent, could motivate action doesn’t discount those perspectives. Rather, it reflects how the youth of our local Latino community — many of whom know the Gorge as their only home — are disproportionately affected, and the privilege of others.

Teenagers don’t exist in a bubble. They read. They’re chronically online. They can, in fact, think for themselves. National news trickles down, especially when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents roam neighborhood streets.

In order to participate, CHS students under 18 years old had to get signed permission from their parents. Hood River administrators relied on guidance from the National Association of Secondary School Psychologists and initially presented organizers with other options. After deciding that only a walkout could adequately convey their frustration, staff then made preparations to shut down campus and keep those who chose to engage as safe as possible.

And that’s exactly what public education should strive to offer: A secure environment where students can learn, debate and share their opinions freely. In truth, most adults would probably benefit from returning to a space that encourages critical thinking, as opposed to stewing in echo chambers that drown out different voices.

Historically, protests on school grounds have catalyzed and served as a bellwether for nationwide reform. There’s arguably no more important place (apart from the press) to ensure that free speech can flourish than inside classrooms.

You have every right to disagree with those discussions and to share your view, but imposing your opinions on others, or dismissing them because of age, isn’t productive. And for those outraged over a few choice words scribbled with sidewalk chalk, which were immediately removed, we implore you to consider where students could possibly be taking these cues from.