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Second graders from Alma Del mar Charter School in Bedford, Massachusetts took to the streets and rallied against police for the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri at the hands of officer Darren Wilson. It was 11:30 in the morning, typically the time these kiddos have recess, but this class of 20-plus students decided to use their time off for protesting. The 7 and 8-year-olds stood by the side of the road with signs reading, “Please don’t shoot me, Ferguson” and they chanted, “Honk if you want justice!”

These students were more than happy to be a part of this cause, but many parents complained. It’s being reported that George Borden, the father of one participant and a policeman in New Bedford, told WHDH that discovering his 7-year-old had participated in the protest and finding a flyer in her backpack urging people to join a weekend protest “against the unjust systems that allow police officers to kill Black men and boys with impunity,” was “horrific to me.” He says he only learned about the protest after a friend saw it and called him. Borden told WHDH his daughter asked him, “Daddy, do you shoot people?” And now he wants an apology from his daughter’s teacher.

Will Gardner, the school’s founder and executive director, stands by the school’s decision to let the kids protest, saying it was allowed as part of lesson in civics. Gardner told The Boston Globe that the class’s teacher sent a note home with her students Dec. 10, letting the parents know that the class would be discussing diversity and “issues covered by the media,” and offering kids the option not to take part in the talks if their parents didn’t approve. The protest was never a part of the lesson plan, the kids urged their teachers to let them do it.

“We discourage our teachers from sharing their own political and religious views with their scholars,” Gardner added. “[But] we certainly want our scholars to engage in activities that help them to understand what it means to be citizens and what it means to be a democracy.”

So what do you think beauties? Are these kids too young to express their political views? Sound off in the comments below.

 

Second Graders Protest For Ferguson During Recess & Parents Are Outraged  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com