"Why Aren't We Special Like That?"
by Vorfeed

As you may or may not be aware (probably not, damn illiterates), on October 1, some 300 students of Lewis and Clark High School in Downtown Spokane left campus after their lunch to participate in a massive anti-war protest. Many held anti-war, anti-Bush signs as the group marched to Riverfront Park, where they held a die-in. Each protestor held a piece of paper bearing the name of an American soldier killed in Iraq. The die-in started with every protestor standing; then an announcer asked certain groups to fall down and die- 18-year-olds, 19-year-olds, etc. By the end of the protest, everyone had "died." The protestors were instructed to remain absolutely still and silent as they laid on the ground. It must have been a moving sight.

Why is it that such a wonderful thing can happen at a school so close, but not our own? Why don't we do something like that? Surely there are reasons:

1) There just aren't enough anti-war students at our school. To begin with, PFHS' enrollment is just above 1400, while LCHS has an enrollment of close to 2000, so the ratio of anti-war students is higher there. In addition, LC is located in Downtown Spokane, an area which is undoubtedly more liberal than the rest of the area.

2) PFHS is located in an inconvenient area. LC is in the best possible location for a massive protest. We have no Riverfront Park. The only place I could see us holding a large protest is the soccer or football field. We certainly wouldn't get the media coverage that LC got; KHQ, KXLY, and The Spokesman-Review are located in close proximity to LC; we have nothing. In order to get coverage, we'd have to plan the protest far in advance and alert the media beforehand.

3) We have a closed campus, whereas LC doesn't. If we left campus after lunch, we'd all get suspended (unless, of course, a very large number turned out). At LC, the worst they probably would have gotten was truants for skipping class. As I said earlier, I doubt we would be suspended if we actually stayed on campus for a protest.

Would it pay to organize a protest at our school? Even if it wasn't necessarily anti-war, but some other issue? I would be glad to help organize and lead, but first I'd need to know an estimate of how many students would be willing to participate and would actually commit to it. Even if we didn't skip class, could we do it before or after school? Christian students have See You at the Pole they do before school sometimes; can we do something like that in the form of a protest? We do have the right to assemble peacefully. Obviously I am not going to start something until I have a good amount of support. That is why I need your feedback. Please respond here.