By Layla Borman
Whether it’s Carmel High School protesting for stadium lights, Monterey High students protesting for reinstatement of a beloved staff member or Monterey and Seaside High students walking out in protest of racism on campus, student protest is an uncommon but effective way to voice your opinion.
Carmel High School students have been protesting for stadium lights on their field for many years but up until 2022 they have never been successful. Carmel High School happens to be in a residential area and with backlash from the residents in the surrounding neighborhoods they have not been able to get approval. The Carmel ASB began campaigning for the lights in October 2021. However with the current classes and their efforts to change this not only did the Carmel Unified School District approve this project, but they did so unanimously. The residents were against the lights fearing they would disrupt the peaceful neighborhood in the evening but the Carmel students thought of these lights as a necessity to the safety and success of their athletic program. In order to advocate for lights many students became involved. . For example, they started a petition on change.org, they wrote letters to the school board and attended the board meeting in November, and they held a tee-shirt printing rally prior to the board meeting. As a direct result of these protests they were successful in making a change. Highlighting a different form of student activism, Monterey High School students in 2010 decided to collectively walk off campus and through the streets of Monterey to protest against the relocation of some of their favorite teachers to other schools. The school board had made a decision to switch a chunk of Monterey High and Seaside High teachers in order to put Seaside High School in a better position to gain federal funding. The students were outraged that their favorite teachers, who had been teaching at Monterey for up to 30 years prior, were being simply moved to Seaside to benefit their chances at receiving funding from the government. More than 500 students helped organize and execute a march through downtown around noon on a school day. Some of the students went as far as the Custom House and the Del Monte Ave tunnel before arriving back at the School District Office to end the protest. The impact of this protest did not only create a need for the Monterey High principal to leave his normal responsibilities unattended to while instead he had to monitor the march, but also the Monterey Police and Highway Patrol had to get involved in monitoring the march to ensure students safety as well. The march disrupted traffic and gained a lot of attention from the public along with the attention of their principal and police officers had a big impact on their protests.
Monterey and Seaside high schools also get involved in student protests in 2019, prompted by the administration’s lack of response to students involved in racist photos circulating on social media. This protest consisted of a walk out, the launch of the hashtag #eRacism, and a group of students who felt the need to speak on important topics. Their form of protest did not involve a march nor a board meeting, instead it involved a vow of silence and a walk out. The students believed that in order to have their voices heard and valued by the administration a vow of silence would prove how important their voices are in the running of the schools. The students also convinced the administration to let them leave class 20 minutes early to lead a walk out and the leaders would break the silence with a speech about how the words circulating social media were harmful and made a great impact on them. The students rallied and put together a whole group of supporters of the cause and made sure that their voices were heard and more importantly listened to.
Although the prior examples all entail very different ways of working towards very different outcomes they all have one thing in common, students. As the Nobel Peace Prize winner and first black President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela said “The Youth of Today are the leaders of tomorrow.”
Sources:
Carmel residents file a lawsuit against Carmel Unified over stadium lights project at CHS. Monterey County Weekly, 30 Dec. 2022, http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/blogs/news_blog/carmel-residents-file-a-lawsuit-against-carmel-unified-over-stadium-lights-project-at-chs/article_6b941fbc-87e4-11ed-ad25-4f87c7c66d6e.html.
Hundreds of Monterey High Students Protest Teacher Transfers. Monterey Herald, 7 May 2010, http://www.montereyherald.com/2010/05/07/hundreds-of-monterey-high-students-protest-teacher-transfers/.
Monterey High School Students Protest Teacher Transfers. Monterey County Weekly, 6 May 2010, http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/local_news/monterey-high-school-students-protest-teacher-transfers/article_f86cb91b-1e57-5b0d-80d0-3d3c8789b799.html.
Neighbors fight proposed school stadium lights for Carmel High School. KSBW, 7 Sept. 2022, http://www.ksbw.com/article/neighbors-fight-proposed-school-stadium-lights-for-carmel-high-school/41099713.
Peninsula students stage strong, silent protest against racism. KSBW, 21 Feb. 2019, http://www.ksbw.com/article/peninsula-students-stage-strong-silent-protest-against-racism/26458043.
Racist photo prompts silent protest, walkout at Monterey and Seaside High schools. KSBW, 21 Feb. 2019, http://www.ksbw.com/article/racist-photo-prompts-silent-protest-walkout-at-monterey-and-seaside-high-schools/26438759.
LAMPLIGHTER 