Fred Fuentes
Before and on June 1, the day that students around the country protested against Work Choices, the mass media and the NSW education minister, Labor's Carmel Tebbutt, campaigned against high-school students' right to protest, saying that students would use the rallies as an excuse to skip school and that students know nothing about Work Choices.
Student strike organisers in Sydney were told by students in public schools around NSW that staff had said that any student who joined the protest might be suspended or expelled. Some schools even refused to allow students who had parental permission to join the protest.
Those who denied students' right to protest on June 1 on the basis that they are "too young to know anything" chose to ignore the fact that the Work Choices legislation is being used most harshly against young people in workplaces. That is why young people, high-school students in particular, are very aware of what the laws mean.
If high-school students are old enough to be exploited as workers or sacked they surely are old enough to exercise the democratic right to protest. One of the most effective ways for students to demonstrate opposition to their exploitation is to walk out of class, and anyone really opposes Work Choices should defend their right to do so.
Further, any student who is punished for joining the June 1 protests should be supported with student and community protests at their school.
It is very important that teachers and students continue to organise discussions at schools about the impact of Work Choices and participate fully in the broader community campaign against these brutal laws.
From Green Left Weekly, June 7, 2006.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.