Students Refuse to go to class in SLHS. Protest.

[faceofflax15]

In South Lyon Michigan high school today, students rebelled against the administration with a peacefull protest.

Why, Well this is my school, and Heres what went down, It isn't a very noble reason, well to a large majority of the school it just was skipping four hours of the day; But it was more than that.

In the Oakland County, the only school to remain open for the past two days was the south lyon school district, In the KVC, Western/Greater Lakes, And Huron Valley confrences, the only school to not have either today or yesterday or both, off was South Lyon High School. In Wheather like it has been in michigan, frost bite is possible if you are outside for 12msn baring any skin.

Well at our school, if you live within 1 mile of the school, you have to walk to school or find your own ride, these kids have to walk in this weather with 0 to -20 degree weather as of now, with a -20's windchill. These kids have been getting frost bite and its just too cold.
My town isn't the richest and to be honest; a lot of the students who live within a mile can't afford mittens/gloves/hats and scarfs.

And for unsafe reasons kids had to stand at the bus had to withstand 20ish minutes at least of negative degree weather.
This is all grades, k-12. All standing in the freezing cold.

And why do I say that the 20 mns at least, because all but one bus was late today.. Even though the Super Intendint of the school district said that they were fine, this is completly untrue.

The Protest was about the unfair treatment and disregard to the students saftey, the idea was kind of like this,
Some kids started it during first hour, but it really kicked off during 2nd hour. 800 kids gathered in the commans of our school and refused to go to class. Refusing to remain in class if the adminstration isn't going to care about our safety.

And it's not like this is the first way we tried to get our message across. We wrote letters, And Phone calls to the school in the past with our strict, refuse to cancel school Super Intendint, not giving us the day off when every other school has been closed [many times in the past]. The SI had obviously shown that he has no regard to the saftey of his students. Little Kids had to stand in the freezing cold, Like my sister, whos in 4th grade, who has to wait at the bustop for at least 20 minutes this morning.
We listened to the adminstartion to a point, while holding our ground.
We went into the auditorium to have a confrence with the SI and Principal of the school, they avoided all questions and diverted them back to the fact that at 5 in the morning the roads were fine by their standards.
However, the roads were worse today than they were 3 days ago, when two students died. The protest stayed peacefull untill late 3rd hourish, when two fights broke out, the school turned on the fire alarm, trieing to force us outside, and when the Bathroom caught on fire.

But What if the school caught on fire, and they excepted us to go outside, without our jackets on [jackets and coats must be in lockers, school rule].
And had to wait outisde for an hour or two
That happend last year, our school is prone to catching on fire.

In the end, we ended up going back to class at the end of 4th hour, going to 5th and 6th hour, where the teachers had us watch movies or do busy work.
Or students went home if they could drive.
Therefore the day was a waste, it would have been better off staying at home, safer and make everyone happier.



So I'm curious, does anyone think that his protest was just or unjust



**I'll add news links as they show up, right now only fox has it and it's just saying that we had a protest, no information.

[L4X_M4ST3R]

not bad you make a valid point along with the other members/students at your school....i would've just stayed at home all day and strung up sticks .. ... .. . .

[faceofflax15]

not bad you make a valid point along with the other members/students at your school....i would've just stayed at home all day and strung up sticks .. ... .. . .
I wanted to, not because of the cold, but because I feel terrible and am Sick, but My mom almost never lets me stay home.
I get a ride to school from a friend, but in all honesty, I was mad for my sister.

[pantherLax]

Wow, thats pretty bad. I'm real sorry it happened to you. Are the parents complaining?


However, the roads were worse today than they were 3 days ago, when two students died.

Died from the cold?

I'm real sorry, really. If I was you i would go to another school, it seems like the Administration is on drugs. But thats easy for me to say.

[faceofflax15]

Wow, thats pretty bad. I'm real sorry it happened to you. Are the parents complaining?



Died from the cold?

I'm real sorry, really. If I was you i would go to another school, it seems like the Administration is on drugs. But thats easy for me to say.
Parents are pretty mad too. Mine are mad at me for partaking in it.

And no, they died for terrible road conditions..Icey.

[HdGLaxWarrior]

why do you have to wait outside for 20 minutes?

[wolfie8914]

Way to stick it to the Man!

[faceofflax15]

why do you have to wait outside for 20 minutes?
Waiting for buses.
My sister has to be out there for around 15mns normally, with 5 other kids..

At my bus stop alone.

[HdGLaxWarrior]

why dont you find out what time the bus comes, then find out how long it takes to walk there, then arrive 2 minutes early?

[pantherLax]

Parents are pretty mad too. Mine are mad at me for partaking in it.

And no, they died for terrible road conditions..Icey.

Your parents are mad at you?? Whaat that sucks.
Other parents are mad at the school or their kids?

And that 2 students died because of terrible road conditions, going to school?...wouldnt the school be responsible for that (the deaths)?

[CTLaxer]

why dont you find out what time the bus comes, then find out how long it takes to walk there, then arrive 2 minutes early?

Bus schedules are far from perfect. Sometimes they're early, sometimes they're late, sometimes they're right on time.

[faceofflax15]

why dont you find out what time the bus comes, then find out how long it takes to walk there, then arrive 2 minutes early?
My sister use to be able to do that, but most of the time, its not possible because she can't be trusted to lock the door to the house and what not, my mom has to leave and my dads not home after 6. So my mom waits in the car with the kids as long as she can, but they still have to wait in the cold for sometime.

Honestly, Would you trust a 9 year old girl to lock a house when it was just robbed a month ago

And most other parents are mad at their kids, mine are a little hard, no big deal though, most are furious at the school.

The students didn't die during school hours, they died on saturday, but I was trying to say that the roads were better than today, and students died in those conditions.

[twin58]

Drive-by linking.

Bitter wind chills behind decision to close schools (http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/020607/loc_2007020628.shtml)

[gnrrocks110]

Bus schedules are far from perfect. Sometimes they're early, sometimes they're late, sometimes they're right on time.

yeah exactly. i go to this school with faceoff, and our buses are a sad excuse for transportation. I was also involved in all of this, but the people i felt bad for were the district wide kids that walk! Some have to walk to school, some have to walk a half mile just to the bus stop's, AND then wait. I think its outrageous(sp?) that we have to be there. Bottom line is our superintendent has no heart, and is payed very much(most in all of michigan i believe) to be that way.

[faceofflax15]

I forgot to mention on Monday, it was so cold, that our water Pipes Cracked and water started spurring out everywhere.

If thats not showing how cold it is, that metal is cracking, I don't know what will.

And Twin, In our Confrence, we are the only one in oakland, the rest are in Livingston county.

[Matt Larkin]

sounds liek you had a fun day at school...i wish my school would do that..i wish it would also snow.

post1251

[MaKiMaKi13]

well we already talked about it on AIM, but i still think its pretty beast gives me ideas to try for tomorrow if it doesnt snow like its supposed too

[blckout20]

Protesting high school by not going is a dumb way to get your point across. Laborers protest business' by not going because they provide a service with which the business needs. Student's don't provide a high school with a service, especially a public school, where you don't pay a tuition to attend, they provide you with a service by educating you. The only thing you are accomplishing by not attending is taking a day out of your education away. Sure it's cold....you live in Michigan. I live in CT and it's been really cold here as well, last night with windchill it was between -10 and -20 degrees, and I was outside until 2 a.m. moving equipment. As far as not being able to afford gloves and jackets, go to a local salvation army or other charitable organization of this sort. If you truely live in such a poor town in Michigan I'd assume these types of organizations shouldn't be too hard to find and if you're too poor to afford something like that you shouldn't be to proud to take a donation. You can try carpooling to school if you can't walk or take the bus. This may sound like I'm being callous, but every suggestion I've made is reasonable. I'm sure the school system isn't forcing people to go to school just to see if they survive the cold or not.

[faceofflax15]

Protesting high school by not going is a dumb way to get your point across. Laborers protest business' by not going because they provide a service with which the business needs. Student's don't provide a high school with a service, especially a public school, where you don't pay a tuition to attend, they provide you with a service by educating you. The only thing you are accomplishing by not attending is taking a day out of your education away. Sure it's cold....you live in Michigan. I live in CT and it's been really cold here as well, last night with windchill it was between -10 and -20 degrees, and I was outside until 2 a.m. moving equipment. As far as not being able to afford gloves and jackets, go to a local salvation army or other charitable organization of this sort. If you truely live in such a poor town in Michigan I'd assume these types of organizations shouldn't be too hard to find and if you're too poor to afford something like that you shouldn't be to proud to take a donation. You can try carpooling to school if you can't walk or take the bus. This may sound like I'm being callous, but every suggestion I've made is reasonable. I'm sure the school system isn't forcing people to go to school just to see if they survive the cold or not.

I do agree those are good suggestions, but some people can not afford those types of things, I live in a small town, its not all poor, some people are very poor though, and can't afford it.

And some of the teachers were sending students down to protest too, not to mention a few oddball teachers joining in.

[blckout20]

not to mention a few oddball teachers joining in.

Alright, this one quote gave me a better idea of the situation in a sort. But it seems that you're community has a tough time binding together than if you have a large divesity in income you should focus more on helping people rather than fighting your school system.

[faceofflax15]

Alright, this one quote gave me a better idea of the situation in a sort. But it seems that you're community has a tough time binding together than if you have a large divesity in income you should focus more on helping people rather than fighting your school system.
But like I said, this wasn't our first attempt to get the message across that our safety is in obviously risk.

[CtLaxin]

It looks like you guys should still go to class and work on your english and writing.

[somrandomguy]

Protesting high school by not going is a dumb way to get your point across. Laborers protest business' by not going because they provide a service with which the business needs. Student's don't provide a high school with a service, especially a public school, where you don't pay a tuition to attend, they provide you with a service by educating you.

Umm...wrong. Schools (at least where I live) get funding based on their attendance: they get a certain amount of money on that day for every student present on that day. So if students don't show up to school, the school doesn't get any money. So you are in fact doing something by staying home from school, since the school won't get the money they would get if you showed up.

[faceofflax15]

It looks like you guys should still go to class and work on your english and writing.
Sorry, I decided not to spell check, And I wrote off of feeling, not for grammatical or for spelling reasons.

[tomtom]

I dunno, it kinda sounds to me like most people wanted reasons not to go to class. I dont knmow the superintendent, but im quite sure hes smart enough to realize that if somebody got frostbite/hypothermia/whatever, his job is gone and hes in a whole mess of trouble.

Though to be hones,t our schools sit in 2 years ago had much of the same effect, with many people who simply wanted to ditch class. Luckily there was a majority out there supporting the true cause, so our message came across strong.

[cazorey13]

i can somewhat relate to this topic living in Michigan myself. my high school SI was a prude about closing school to but both today and yesterday school was closed for us. today wasn't because of the road conditions it was because of the bitter cold. i can completely understand the purpose of the protest with it being so cold. for those of you who find the protest a stupid thing to do try and put yourself in a situation where your kids are standing outside in -20 degree weather not knowing when the buses are showing up because of bad road conditions. I know that if i were to have a kid standing outside in this weather i would be very mad that the school is willing to risk frostbit on their student just for one day of school.

[jk20jk20]

well this is ridiculous because on monday in chicago where i live the wind chill was -30 and today it was -28 so we should have done something like that

[James]

Im from kalamazoo, I think its stupid that we have school off. I realize the people out in the cold but Its never stopped them in the past. Seriously I remeber going to school when it was 10 below with windchill close to 25 below. I dont think there is much point in protesting because the SI doesnt like being told what to do by highschoolers. Weather the cause is right , oh yeeeaaah sweet pun.
Just my thoughts I personally would have called school just cause the others did and didnt want trouble if something went wrong. It would be alot easier to place blame on the SI if yor kid got hurt and you were only one in area that had school. Thats why I would call school off.

On the other hand I have been atop nubs nob when the actual temp is -22 and wind chil is -35. In nothing but a spandex race suit for skiing for 2 hours. I survived. Some frostbite but people act like the end of the world. Fingertips were just very very light brown. They were all better after like 2 hours. So its not the end of the world if people get cold. ( thats the evil side of me just hope I am not your SI). I think the main reason they called school here was that they couldnt get the busses started.

Just a thought, are there any guys from minnesota who can voice in on this? Dont you guys have really reallly cold weather all the time?

[Khaos]

Well i live in ohio and we had the 2 days off with -30 the first day. tomarrow we have to go to school but we are getting a 2hr late start. i think that this was a just protest and even the worst lawyer could win against the best. It was all about safety not missing school for no reason and the school should ahve understood that

[lacrosse_queen1]

wow... way to go..... will the changes actually happen? will the admin. actually do something about this?

[NHDSlax]

Back in my day, we had to walk 15 miles to school every day in 25 inches of snow with average temps of -40...uphill both ways. You kids today...

[pantherLax]

If you want change you get rich over protected moms to complain.

Works in my town real well.

[faceofflax15]

Im from kalamazoo, I think its stupid that we have school off. I realize the people out in the cold but Its never stopped them in the past. Seriously I remeber going to school when it was 10 below with windchill close to 25 below. I dont think there is much point in protesting because the SI doesnt like being told what to do by highschoolers. Weather the cause is right , oh yeeeaaah sweet pun.
Just my thoughts I personally would have called school just cause the others did and didnt want trouble if something went wrong. It would be alot easier to place blame on the SI if yor kid got hurt and you were only one in area that had school. Thats why I would call school off.

On the other hand I have been atop nubs nob when the actual temp is -22 and wind chil is -35. In nothing but a spandex race suit for skiing for 2 hours. I survived. Some frostbite but people act like the end of the world. Fingertips were just very very light brown. They were all better after like 2 hours. So its not the end of the world if people get cold. ( thats the evil side of me just hope I am not your SI). I think the main reason they called school here was that they couldnt get the busses started.

Just a thought, are there any guys from minnesota who can voice in on this? Dont you guys have really reallly cold weather all the time?

I've lived in both MI, ND and MN, its colder in ND than both MI or MN, it was in the negative -28'sish thelast couple days there.

[rtmlax]

This sounds alot like my school. Our superintendent never lets our school off because when he checks the roads he does it with his 4 wheel drive truck and thinks that because he can drive in the snow everyone else can. The other day we had 4 people total their cars and 5 other people wreck them because of the snow covered roads. Also there are lots of hills where I live and many of the kids going to their busstops slipped and got hurt. 1 kid broke his arm walking down his street too.

[Dan]

Way to give the man the big old F*** YOU, I say. You want to change something, you do it yourself. I know that in Vermont, we'd have enough days each winter to rival Minnesota (not nearly as many, trust me, I'm not comparing to Minnesota) and I had an early morning class at 6:25 that I got a ride to and then either a 10 minute walk or very cold ride to school in the morning. It was MISERABLE. We were, however, in a pretty affluent area and we paid a crapload of taxes, so we had bus services unless you were super super close to the school, like I was. I was 3 minutes away from my middle school and 5 from my high school and had lived in the same house since the first grade, so, it was convenient.

Don't be a wuss and hire a lawyer. It sucks. America runs on lawyers. Let's run on people.

Utah is pretty stupid. At least, my high school. I know twice it's taken me 6-10 (literally 6-10) times longer to get home from school because of snow on the roads. We have terrible road cleaning, unlike Vermont, yet we still have school, and I've slid right off the road. No damage, but it's ricockulous.


Our goverment is running us. We aren't running it.

[jrmelax16]

Being from Michigan, I completely understand where your coming from. I think you were one in a handful of schools that were actually open. I don't really know why we didn't have school, but if nearly every school shuts down it seems like something has to be wrong.

[faceofflax15]

Being from Michigan, I completely understand where your coming from. I think you were one in a handful of schools that were actually open. I don't really know why we didn't have school, but if nearly every school shuts down it seems like something has to be wrong.
2 within 5 countys today, Only within 5 counties yesterday.

Actually, Only one in Metro Detroit Area, Detroit free press said so in a article about it.

[OZONE1598]

at my school the other day the water pipes also broke and water everywhere although it was just in one building (my school has 2) teachers were running everywhere to clean it up and it was rather amusing. and yes the weather in Minnesota has been cold like -20 and i live north of the cites.