Tangney: We should applaud students for taking political stances

Rather than criticize and bemoan the students who plan to walk out of class in protest of Donald Trump’s election, maybe we should be applauding them. I would rather any high schooler be actively involved in the political system than apathetic.

Rantz: If your kid is ‘scared’ over Trump, you’ve failed them

I was a freshman in high school in 1968 when Hubert Humphrey lost in a squeaker to Richard Nixon.  I was distraught the day after the election. We didn’t walk out, but I remember a few seniors wore black arm bands in silent protest.  You can be a mere freshman in high school and still be more interested in the political process than a lot of people twice your age.  And that’s a good thing. I remember being stunned so few of my fellow students cared about who the next President was going to be.  It bothers me when kids don’t have a clue about what was going on.

Now, if you want to challenge what a 13-year-old actually knows about the world, fine. They don’t know much about the world. But the fact that that they actually know who the President-elect is and care enough to do something about it, even if it is to just protest, those are all good signs. You won’t learn about the world if you don’t care about the world.