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Protests: Paths to PersuasionBy KRISTEN STERNBERG | NIE Educational Consultant When Volusia County high schools cut services to students in an effort to offset recent budget cuts, about 1,500 students walked out of classes at Atlantic High in protest. On the same day, the director of a prominent Daytona Beach museum resigned in protest, claiming she was being censored. Take a look, also, at how an individual brought attention to problems with nursing home care. What other forms do protests take, and how does protesting bring about changes?
Protesting is expressing opposition to another, different point of view. Types of protest routinely include speaking and writing, along with marching, picketing, boycotting (refusing to recognize, such as choosing not to buy certain products) and even hunger striking. At the extreme end, they include more destructive practices like terrorist attacks. Protests are intended to persuade others to your point of view, or to call attention (especially media attention) to a situation you feel is unfair or has been neglected. Built into the Constitution of the United States (in a section called "The Bill of Rights") are rights and privileges that allow avenues for protest. For example, the Constitution grants freedom of peaceful assembly, meaning that it's not against the law for people to gather in a common cause. Peaceful protest rallies, sit-ins, marches and so on are legal ways to bring attention to a cause. Another guaranteed right is freedom of speech: we are free to express our opinions and beliefs and to question practices we don't agree with. A third, very important right is freedom of the press. This means that our government may not prevent news, ideas and issues from being reported in newspapers or other media. The Bill of Rights is a kind of umbrella that covers some general and some specific issues. However, new social issues routinely arise, and some remain unresolved, as our society grows and changes. In the U.S., women's and minorities' rights were gained only through decades of protest. Entire protest movements like the Women's Suffrage Movement and the Civil Rights Movement took place years ago, but the world is still feeling the impact of their results. Today, many issues are still being resolved-kids' rights, animal rights and human rights for people in some other countries are among them. World leaders like Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi went on hunger strikes to call attention to political and social injustice, while here in the U.S. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led marches to end racial injustice. Whole eras, or periods of time, have been defined by protests for social or other change. One well-known era is the birth of our nation-the Boston Tea Party, for example, was planned to protest taxes imposed on American colonists by Britain. Another important era took place in and around the 1960s, when people demonstrated against issues such as social repression, racism and the Vietnam War. From local concerns such as the sidewalk issue brought to the public's notice by a 13-year-old, to protesting the practices of an entire government, for example, China's treatment of the Falun Gong cult, many people feel sympathy toward various causes. As you grow and perhaps identify issues you believe should be changed, don't forget that the written word is one of the most powerful forms of protest. There is a well-known phrase about "the power of the pen" that should not be ignored. Persuasive letters, essays, slogans and more have caused uncountable social change. Almost anything can be used as a tool for protest: Artists have long told their points of view through pictures, and words-whether spoken on the radio, TV or movies, or written in books, plays, songs, journals, newspaper editorials and, more and more, the Internet, are perhaps the most important tool of all! Try these interesting activities using The Daytona Beach News-Journal 1. Find pictures in The News-Journal of symbols that stand for things you believe in. Use them to design a prize that might someday be awarded to someone whose values you admire. Find an article in the newspaper about such a person. Show others your design and tell them about the person whom you think deserves it. (Sunshine State Standards: SC.C.2.2.1, SC.C.2.2.2, SC.C.2.2.3, SC.C.2.2.4)
2. Find an example in The News-Journal of someone protesting an issue. Summarize the article and present it along with your comments to a friend or classmate, or start a journal. Follow the issue over time to keep track of the conflict and whether or not it is resolved. (Sunshine State Standards: LA.A.1.2.2, LA.A.1.2.4) 3. Use The News-Journal to identify a world, nation or community issue that is currently in conflict. Write a letter to the editor stating your point of view, why you feel that way about it and finally, defining the steps you would take to bring the issue to a favorable outcome. (For information about how to compose and send such a letter, check out page 2B in The News-Journal.) If you need a jump start, check out other topics covered by Hot Issues & Cool Ideas to identify some issues that appear routinely in the news. (Sunshine State Standards: LA.A.1.2.2, LA.A.2.2.1, LA.A.2.2.2, LA.A.2.2.3, LA.A.2.2.5, LA.B.1.2.1, LA.B.2.2.1, LA.B.2.2.3, LA.B.2.2.6) 4. In many cases, protests result in new laws. Find and follow, for a few weeks, newspaper articles about new laws. Underline the names of individual or groups who oppose the proposed laws. Circle any words describing what they did to protest the laws. (Sunshine State Standards: LA.A.1.2.2, LA.A.2.2.1, LA.A.2.2.5, SS.C.1.2.1, SS.C.1.2.2, SS.C.1.2.4, SS.C.1.2.5, SS.C.2.2.2, SS.C.2.2.3) 5. Check the TV section of The News-Journal for news programs that spotlight the legislature and new laws. As you watch one or more of the programs, make a list of words and actions that speakers use to express their opposition to a law or idea. Think about ways you can use those same words and actions to express your opinions at home, at school or with friends. (Sunshine State Standards: LA.A.1.2.2, LA.A.2.2.1, LA.A.2.2.5, SS.C.1.2.1, SS.C.1.2.2, SS.C.1.2.4, SS.C.1.2.5, SS.C.2.2.2, SS.C.2.2.3) A copy of Florida's Sunshine State Standards can be found at intech2000.miamisci.org. Check out these links to learn more Visit this site to read about young, peacemaking hero Jason Crowe. Don't miss the links-there are fascinating stories of some winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, including Gandhi. You'll find examples of kids using technology and music for peace, crusading against landmines in Colombia and more. www.myhero.com/hero.asp?hero=jasoncrowe
Read a biography of famous protester Rosa Parks, whose refusal to give up her seat on a city bus contributed to the end of many unjust racial practices like segregation. While you're at the site, check out information and links for other, important African-Americans. www.africanamericans.com/RosaParks.htm Read The Bill of Rights to understand what steps you may legally take to protest causes you believe in. www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/billrights/billmain.html Here's a fantastic timeline detailing protests through recorded history, including the Boston Tea Party, the Underground Railroad and the Civil Rights Movement. www.salsa.net/peace/timeline.html Take a look at these links describing social protest activities including Native American activism, animal rights issues, protests of the '60s and Civil Rights events such as sit-ins. www.csd99.k12.il.us/north./library/Links2000/Social%20Studies/murphy4.htm Religious freedom, school desegregation and women's voting rights are addressed at this interesting public television site. www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/kids/civilrights/features.html You can listen to some well-known protest songs of the 1960s at this site: www.lib.virginia.edu/speccol/exhibits/music/protest_overcome.html The Newspaper Association of America's web site contains links to many newspapers in the U.S. and around the world. Visit the site and check some of them out-you'll probably find they have recently published lots of articles on this topic. To access the newspapers at the site, select a state. Click on the "Internationals" button to view choices from other countries. The Daytona Beach News-Journal NIE Program, published December 24, 2001 |
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