Students Are Doing What Adults Won’t in the Fight Against Omicron

https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgdaqw/students-are-doing-what-adults-wont-in-the-fight-against-omicron

Thousands of students are walking out of class to protest conditions at U.S. schools—and challenge adults who are placing profit over their well-being.

As the Omicron variant rages across the U.S., some students are expressing frustration and worry over being forced back into classrooms with minimal protections. But rather than wait around for fumbling adults, youth across the country are taking matters into their own hands: organizing strikes, participating in citywide walkouts, and laying out detailed proposals for how their wellbeing could be prioritized during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Wednesday, thousands of students in New York City walked out of class to protest conditions and demand temporarily shutting down schools. Students are also planning a walkout this Friday in Boston, where 4,500 people have already signed a petition calling for a remote learning option. In Oakland, California, over 1,000 students signed a districtwide petition threatening to boycott classes entirely until the school district meets its demands—which include KN95 masks, increased testing, and more outdoor space for students to safely eat lunch.

And in Chicago, where in-person classes have resumed after negotiation with the local teachers union, students announced a citywide walkout for this Friday at 12:30 p.m. to bring increased attention to their demands for “physical, mental, spiritual, and structural safety.”

“We are tired of adult leadership not being able to represent the voice of the people that are affected by the shit that they're putting into place,” Santiago De La Garza, a 16-year-old junior at Solorio Academy in Chicago who plans to participate in the walkout, told Motherboard. Garza and several organizer-friends watched Omicron cases rise and, after having flashbacks to the nightmare that was last January, formed Chi-RADS, a radical youth alliance of largely queer Black and brown youth from a multitude of high schools and neighborhoods.


School - Profit over well-being
Student - Well-being over education