Taking a Stand or Taking a Break?

4 days ago
3 min read

By Winston Chu Apr. 5, 2026

From the east to west coast, thousands of students across the nation walked out of classrooms on Jan. 30 and marched on the streets to protest the actions of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Following the death of civilians Renée Good and Alex Pretti, who were fatally shot by ICE agents, citizens organized a national protest to demand accountability for ICE. Yet, many students who supposedly walked out in the name of the cause merely took advantage of the opportunity to skip their classes and grab a bite to eat, which undermined not the cause itself, but the intentions behind it.

Admittedly, the sheer number of students who walked out, even for reasons unrelated to the actual cause, carried an important symbolic weight. With mass news outlets interviewing students and broadcasting videos of America’s youth protesting injustice, the government and the world focused on the rising generation and the power they hold when they voice their opinions.

However, those who walked out without strong conviction in the cause severely limited the intention and results of the event. The walkout was part of a larger nationwide shutdown—a day to refrain from shopping and going to work or school—which meant to display the country’s discontent with ICE. Actively leaving campus just to buy lunch directly contradicted the movement, negatively impacting the protest compared to just staying in school. Additionally, a few students walking out merely because they wanted to skip school tarnishes the authenticity of those who truly walked out for the cause in the public eye. Especially when teens and young adults are prone to extra scrutiny in political affairs because they are labeled as “naive” and “unserious,” one bad apple does indeed spoil the whole bunch, as the saying goes.

“People who use protests as a way to skip school harms the credibility of and impact of the protest itself because it makes it feel disingenuous. If people do choose to protest, it must be because they stand behind the cause. Otherwise, they should not protest at all,” Junior Angelica Lijenstam said.

In response to the protests, schools in many districts across California enacted different attendance policies for those who walked out. Some districts like San Francisco Unified granted excused absences for those individuals, but other districts like San Jose Unified did not. While critics have labelled this move as punishing students for protesting an issue they feel strongly about, the underlying fact is that the students who walked out were indeed absent from their classes. Considering that schools have no definitive way to verify the students who actually walked out to protest as opposed to those who just wanted to skip school—again, danger of those bad apples—districts ultimately do not owe anyone an excused absence. However, districts do owe students their right to protest by not actively prohibiting them from walking out, as well as respect for their actions.

“School walkouts are beneficial because they are accessible, meaning almost every student, no matter how old they are, has the opportunity to participate in a movement they support. For many people, these walkouts were their first introduction to activism, inspiring them to keep protesting injustice in the future,” Senior Shivani Kini said.

The decision to walk out and protest ultimately rests on the matter of intent. Those who rally for the right reasons with true intent to demand justice deserve to be proud of their commitment to civic duty. It takes courage to walk out behind such a noble cause and face potential consequences. Yet, those who join these brave protesters with wrong intentions and actively sabotage their movement goals, especially in today’s crucial political climate, have lost the plot.

About the Contributors

Winston Chu

Managing Editor

Winston Chu is a senior at Leland High School and the Managing Editor for The Charger Account. Over the summer, he went abroad to teach English to elementary school students in Taiwan. His hobbies include skiing and speaking, and he hopes to get better at playing pool.