More than a dozen high school students staged their own walkout on Wednesday protesting the teachers’ strike and the impact it is having on their education. Lyonel Doherty photo
More than a dozen Oliver high school students risked detention today (June 4) when they staged their own protest against the teachers’ strike.
Despite being warned by Principal Marcus Toneatto, the students left the school and held up posters on Main Street.
Upon seeing a number of students sitting in front of the school this morning, Toneatto tried to reason with them, saying they should be organizing their protest when they are not in school.
“Do you think missing more school will help? Everyone else is in there learning today,” he said.
A former graduate of SOSS then pulled up and offered her support for the protesting youth. “Good on you!” she said.
Toneatto said it wasn’t his intention to use a “heavy hand” in this situation, but he wanted the students to be aware of the impact of what they were doing.
“People support you,” he pointed out.
But Grade 9 student James Wheeler said students haven’t had a say in this dispute.
“They (teachers) are deciding what’s best (for us) . . .they need to figure out what they’re going to do . . . we need to find a solution.”
Fellow student Brittaney Silberg said the teachers’ strike is so unfair to students, especially when it is so close to the end of the school year.
Silberg explained that students are missing instruction in four classes each day the teachers stage a walkout. She also fears the dispute will play havoc on provincial exams.
Silberg said they didn’t want to stage their walkout with teachers on Thursday because people would assume they were supporting their cause.
Wheeler said they were not siding with the teachers or the government.
“We’re not fighting for their wages. They (teachers) are decently paid.”
However, Wheeler does support the teachers’ call for smaller class sizes and more support for special needs students.
When asked why more of their classmates were not supporting their protest, Wheeler said many students can’t afford to miss more instructional time.
Grade 9 student Kayla Crampton said she is getting tired of the strike and wants to see an end to it. “It’s giving us less time to learn and prepare for exams.”
Grade 8 student Trenton Kaminski said teachers make enough money, but he supports their concern about the lack of special needs resources. He stated that special needs students deserve the same opportunity to learn as any other pupil.
Fellow student Kira MacFayden indicated that her mother gave her permission to skip one class for the protest.
“I feel it is worth the risk.”
MacFayden said she was surprised that more students didn’t show up, suspecting they “got scared” when they saw the principal.
One student said she thought teachers were being a little unreasonable in their demands.
“It seems every year they keep striking and asking for more.”
Grade 8 student Larissa Ingbritson-Hunt said it feels like they are caught in the middle of this fight.
“The strike is putting me behind in school (particularly French class).”
Silberg said the partial lockout prevents teachers from helping students during lunch hour, breaks and before and after school.
Fellow student Ryan Encina said the strike is negatively impacting student assistance programs, such as “Math Club” that pupils rely on for extra help.
“I Day” is another program that students use to catch up on their work.
“It saves so many students from failing,” Encina pointed out.
Grade 8 student Brooklyn Mason said he is struggling with math and needs the extra help.
Wheeler said students can’t even ask their teachers any academic-related questions outside of the classroom.
“All teachers want to be there (for their students). To say they can’t help must be hard for them,” he said.
Wheeler said class sizes are not excessive, but Silberg had a different opinion, saying all of her classes have about 30 students in them, which is excessive to her.
Joe Louie in Grade 8 said it’s unfair that the strike is putting teachers’ needs above students.
“It is taking away our time for their needs. It’s not helping us, they are only helping themselves.”
Logan Hannas said he would like to see smaller class sizes and more special needs help for teachers.
Fellow student Victoria Santoyo said students should have more say in the matter because the strike is directly impacting them.
“It’s hard to get caught up (in class) when you fall behind.”
But Grade 12 student Jordan Molyneaux supports the teachers in their dispute, and said it’s unfair for the government to cut their wages by 10 per cent during the strike.
Molyneaux said they need smaller class sizes because it’s hard for students to get individual help in a large class of 32.
He stated it’s not right that teachers are not allowed to help students during breaks and lunch hour.
As far as graduation ceremonies are concerned, Molyneaux doesn’t believe the strike will have much of an impact.
By Lyonel Doherty
