Walkouts at Lincoln: Final Project
By Jaden Schiffhauer
Photo by Jaden Schiffhauer
On March 15 in 2019, students all around the world left their classrooms to show their growing concern over climate change and the environment.
This is not an isolated event. Teens are growing more involved in government through a multitude of walkouts and protests in support of their views. Lincoln High School reflects this cultural shift with its increasing number of student walkouts, yet opinions at Lincoln are not all the same on the actual impacts and ideologies behind the movements.
Social Sciences teacher Tim Swinehart is one individual at Lincoln who views the walkouts positively.
“They really are an amazing way for students to not only speak directly to the world about what they want, but they actually lead to real change,” he said. “The walkouts have covered a wide range of issues like the March 15th Climate Strike, Green New Deal, gun safety, and abortion rights ones.”
They also lead to additional classroom conversations on the issues students are walking out for. As a teacher, they tell him what students want to learn more about.
“I want to be able to support students with content they’re interested in,” he said. “The climate change ones prompted me to send resources to other Lincoln teachers so we could all teach about these issues, even if they’re out of our comfort zones.”
Sophomore Harper Lea noticed that he was also able to learn while at the walkouts themselves.
“We got to hear some other students speak at the Green New Deal walkout,” he said. “I learned a lot from them. Missing class is a bummer, but being able to learn more about important issues with other kids helps everyone. I’m happy that they’re happening.”
However, some students, such as sophomore Sadie Nelson, view the walkouts in a different light.
“Though I do appreciate the cause for all the different walkouts, I noticed that many of the students who actually walk out don’t really care about the issues,” she said.
Nelson has noticed a sudden influx in the number of people who care about the issues that have surrounded the walkouts and has worries as a result of the sudden change.
“People have really just started doing these activism things,” she said. “They’ll go to walkouts and post about [the walkout’s] material and end up spreading misinformation. It’s starting to look like they don’t understand the complexities of the issues because they only care about things like firearm safety since it’s become trendy.”
Photo by Jaden Schiffhauer
On March 15 in 2019, students all around the world left their classrooms to show their growing concern over climate change and the environment.
This is not an isolated event. Teens are growing more involved in government through a multitude of walkouts and protests in support of their views. Lincoln High School reflects this cultural shift with its increasing number of student walkouts, yet opinions at Lincoln are not all the same on the actual impacts and ideologies behind the movements.
Social Sciences teacher Tim Swinehart is one individual at Lincoln who views the walkouts positively.
“They really are an amazing way for students to not only speak directly to the world about what they want, but they actually lead to real change,” he said. “The walkouts have covered a wide range of issues like the March 15th Climate Strike, Green New Deal, gun safety, and abortion rights ones.”
They also lead to additional classroom conversations on the issues students are walking out for. As a teacher, they tell him what students want to learn more about.
“I want to be able to support students with content they’re interested in,” he said. “The climate change ones prompted me to send resources to other Lincoln teachers so we could all teach about these issues, even if they’re out of our comfort zones.”
Sophomore Harper Lea noticed that he was also able to learn while at the walkouts themselves.
“We got to hear some other students speak at the Green New Deal walkout,” he said. “I learned a lot from them. Missing class is a bummer, but being able to learn more about important issues with other kids helps everyone. I’m happy that they’re happening.”
However, some students, such as sophomore Sadie Nelson, view the walkouts in a different light.
“Though I do appreciate the cause for all the different walkouts, I noticed that many of the students who actually walk out don’t really care about the issues,” she said.
Nelson has noticed a sudden influx in the number of people who care about the issues that have surrounded the walkouts and has worries as a result of the sudden change.
“People have really just started doing these activism things,” she said. “They’ll go to walkouts and post about [the walkout’s] material and end up spreading misinformation. It’s starting to look like they don’t understand the complexities of the issues because they only care about things like firearm safety since it’s become trendy.”
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