Ennis students involved in immigration protests barred from prom

[Longhorn]

http://www.kten.com/Global/story.asp?S=4712362

ENNIS, Texas Some students won't be allowed into Ennis High School's senior prom tonight.

School officials say that's because they were suspended for taking part in immigration protests earlier this week.

As many as 130 students at Ennis High School, Ennis Junior High and the Sixth Grade Center were suspended yesterday for taking part in Thursday's march. There have been similar protests around the country against federal immigration proposals that call for a crackdown on illegal immigrants.

Many students say they're upset that the suspensions -- which end Monday -- preclude them from attending the prom. But district officials say the students were warned beforehand and knew what the consequences would be.

I realise that there are students who walked out or skipped school just to get out of school but this punishment is out of line, in my view. Some schools, including some in Texas, managed to turn the immigration issues and protests into an educational experience.

[sonias]

1. Those students should have their own prom

They did the right thing and should be proud of themselves. They shouldn't let the schools intimidate them from being active citizens. They're too young to have their spirit broken.

Those school officials are trying to do that of course, clamp down on dissent. No free thinking, this is America.

Sonia

[Longhorn]

2. I agree but I don't think they had much time to plan anything.

Although I guess they could have their own prom at a later date. I hope they do.

And you're right about clamping down on dissent. Where would the civil rights movement have been without civil disobedience? Those young people from all over the country, as well as their elders, who marched in such large numbers last week brought needed attention to the immigration debate and hopefully put a damper on the extreme measures the Republicans are proposing. We need a thoughtful, compasionate solution to the problem and hopefully, those marches put faces on the millions of people most affected by any new laws.

[sonias]

3. You know what I would do Longhorn

I would just find a nice, all ages club that has private party rooms. Everyone could pitch in to pay for it and make their own prom. Or all of them get together as a group at someone's house and make their own prom. Not as many rules that way. Take control now of your lives. The government and institutional authorities are not always right. Trust you heart and your soul.

I salute them!

Sonia

[babylonsister]

4. So they're to be denied a life-long memory because they

stood up for their principles? What country do I live in, because it's not the one I grew up in.:(