Students belong in class –– learning such basics as reading, writing and arithmetic –– not on the streets of LA, raging against immigration law enforcement.
So it’s good to see the LAPD warn students to quit skipping school to form anti-ICE mobs intent on destruction.
By law, those under 18 must be in school during school hours, with few exceptions.
Instead, hundreds have cut class for three consecutive Fridays to cause mayhem in downtown LA.
The youth gone wild have assaulted agents –– hurling rocks and swinging poles –– torched US flags, and vandalized buildings. Multiple agents have been injured in the chaos.
They are correct to prioritize public safety, student safety, basic sanity and civic order.
Homeland Security Investigations officers clear space as student protesters gather outside a federal building. ZUMAPRESS.com And they are wise to warn of prospective legal consequences for students, parents and others who continue to flout (or help students flout) the law.
In a city short on officers but not on crime, LAPD should not have to spend Fridays fending off hordes of violent students.
And students, properly educated, should have better things to do than rage in the streets.
In reply to LAPD’s warning, the district emphasized support for the “rights of our students to advocate for causes important to them.”
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Or to the adults who indoctrinate and scare them by demonizing all things Trump, including ICE?
Enough winking and nodding –– from adults who know better –– at student lawbreaking.
The complicit, alas, include LAUSD’s anti-ICE superintendent.
Alberto Carvalho’s call for school police to confront any federal agents who might visit a campus was silly, but also reckless and escalatory.
Educators –– starting with Carvalho –– need to drop the political battle cries and focus on their remit: helping students gain the skills, knowledge and comportment they need to be productive members of society.
That means teaching students English, not “resistance”; math, not ideology; and writing, not sloganeering.
It also means teaching students dignity, civility and nonviolence –– along with respect not only for law enforcement, but also for those with diverse opinions on difficult topics.
We can see who’s looking out for the adult activists and their interests.
But who’s looking out for the students and their futures?
Those on video and with arrest records for violence might not do so well when they apply for jobs in a few years and find employers wary of trouble.
Memo to LAUSD: Radicalization is not one of the 3 R’s, either.
