I am one of the parents who has been a part of this from the very beginning. My son has been with me at the protests and they have done nothing more than empower him. I have stressed to him from the beginning that this is done in SUPPORT of his teachers and principal, and that the contstant testing is not their fault. I made sure every day that he did not develop resentment towards the teachers who are doing their best when faced with an impossible situation. His holding of signs gave him the voice that he does not have in every day life. Yes, he was taught to respect adults but he was also taught to speak up when something is wrong as it has been in this situation. He has continued to admire his teachers and principal throughout this whole ordeal.
Rather than placing the blame on the parents who have worked so hard to give our kids a voice, the blame should be on Dr. Johnson and Mr. Hernandez. They have destroyed the school system, ignored the children and the schools they lead, and have repeatedly insulted and disrespected the community they serve. They should be the ones to defend themselves, not the parents.

WESMom, you rock. Keep up the good fight and good parenting. It may comfort you to know that if your child were in Orlando, he'd have it way worse. Especially if he's gifted. Hope that brings you some small comfort.

I BEG TO DIFFER AND DIFFER STRONGLY.
It is not only right, it is imperative our children witness their parents speak up and out to defend THEM against ANY Adult who threatens their future in ANY capacity. There is NO VIOLENCE AS YOU HAVE SUGGESTED in the piece you wrote. IT IS ALWAYS A RESPECTFUL PROTEST EVEN WHEN CHANTING. These Children's future is being threatened by the VERY ADULTS that promised an oath to them. It is good for a child, my child, to see, hear, witness, and even participate with their parents, regarding their very lives and future. Respectfully, do you allow and teach your children to respect ANY AND ALL ADULTS who bring harm to them? Do you allow and teach your Children not to "fight" back?

I must respond and comment on this post. The fact that you wonder if students should participate in the democratic process is outrageous to me. I am the parent of three students who have attended Palm Beach County Schools for 17 years. First and foremost using a photo of children on your post is inappropriate and singles out those children, please remove the photo from your post. Secondly, the children in the picture happen to be the most resptful children I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, what they have learned in this process is that we live in a free society and it is appropriate to challenge a process that is unfair and not working. These children are most respectful to thier teachers and school administrators so in fact their participation has in no way taught them to act without respect. As an educator I am insulted that you would imply that a child's participation in a protest would effect their attitude in a classroom. the reference to angry parents is also in error the parents of the children pictured are not an angry people. In fact they are concerned citizens and very happy people, there is a difference! I would guess that there were Children in attendance at the Tea Party in Boston 200 plus years ago and that without participation in peaceful protests we would not be where we are as a country today. Too often people do not take responsibility for teaching their children the proper ways to participate in society. Responsible parents talk with their children and teach their children through example. I know that the children will be better able to participate and contribute to society as a result of their exposure to the Democratic process. Participation in a system that does not allow for discussion and disagreement would be to me something to wonder about. Thank goodness we do as parents pass our beliefs on to our children. Your suggestion that participation in a peaceful protest will somehow negatively effect school participation is ill founded and ironic.

When forced busing first started in Florida in the early '70's, my brother and I were involved in all of the protests with our parent's. We were 8 and 6 at the time. My mom still has a picture of my brother from the front page of the newspaper standing in a picket line holding a sign.

We went with our parents (and many others) to our local school when they ripped up the reassignment forms and threw them in the faces of the beauracrats who happened to be in the office on that day.

My parent's campaigned heavily for anyone who stood for limited government. I clearly remember being at rallies for different candidates, being in (and working in) local campaign headquarters for Presidential and Congressional candidates, staying up all night long sitting on the edge of our seats waiting for election results. I remember having to go stay out of town, basically in hiding, because my family was threatened by people who didn't like our anti-Government activist nature. You name it, I experienced it.

What I learned from it is that I have not only a right but a HUGE responsibility to speak out and speak out LOUDLY when I disagree with anything that these beauracrats try to shove down my throat.

I also learned that I'm the one in charge, not THEM, and if THEY don't like it then tough. The Government's job is to listen to me whether they like what I have to say or not. If they don't like it then let them go live in a Communist country where nobody can question them.

In conclusion the answer to your question about whether kids should participate in these rallies is a resounding YES. These kids are the future. What message are we sending them if we tell them that they need to just hush up and take whatever is given to them? Did that happen during the Civil Rights movement? Did it happen during the Suffrage movement? Why on earth would anyone advocate not getting their kids involved in the political process in this country?

Dear Lois

It is very kind of you to be so concerned about our children and what effect that the peaceful rally would have on them.
I did not get to take my daughter along do to the fact that I knew this would not end till late and she had an Embedded Assessment test the next morning. So first and foremost we were all there for Teacher and Students. I personal think that the students and teacher have formed a bond that now can not be broken. I think the Teacher and Student now have so much more respect for each other feelings. The students yes will still have to go back to school and take a lot of tests actually 40 more Embedded Assessment test than they had last year. But please do not believe for one moment that we are finished. Palm Beach County school superintendent is not giving principals any leeway he is merely passing the buck to the principal’s, the district's testing program is still the same. However the peaceful rally has not quieted down. We are still here and have no intention of leaving any time soon. I believe that every parent does pass along their beliefs to their kids like religion, respect and what is right from wrong till they reach adulthood and than there beliefs become their own and hopefully by than we as parents have prepared them to live there happy life to the fullest. I think children have already formed there own opinion of Dr Johnson asked if we want stressed out kid or Happy Morons.

No they should not. If the parents think they're giving their kids a civic lesson they are sadly mistaken. Police should arrest the parents with minor children at the scene of a protest or instruct them to leave. If they don't then they should be arrested. A protest is not a safe place for a child. Especially if the crowd gets out of hand and the police have to intervene. Protests have been known to break out in violence. Bringing your child to a protest is putting them in harms way.

Unbelievable, you are truly unbelievable. You really want the state to step in and tell parents that they can't exercise their right to free speech in front of their children?

You really want the police to go arrest parents whose kids aren't doing anything other than standing on a sidewalk with a sign?

Unbelievable indeed.

I think parents raise the issues relates to their children whenever they protest against school admin. So, children should also support their parents. Raising a voice against injustice can’t be held wrong.

I am not agree with the stand that the school kids join their parents at school protests.I like the information which tells about the awareness among the children and their behavior against different protests.Support is different things but if they support the current activities then there is danger of violence in them.