{"id":2562964,"date":"2026-02-03T00:24:55","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T05:24:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-illegal-for-leftist-agitators-to-encourage-high-school-walkouts-59\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T00:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T05:27:11","slug":"its-illegal-for-leftist-agitators-to-encourage-high-school-walkouts-59","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-illegal-for-leftist-agitators-to-encourage-high-school-walkouts-59\/","title":{"rendered":"It&#8217;s Illegal For Leftist Agitators To Encourage High School Walkouts"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fits-illegal-for-leftist-agitators-to-encourage-high-school-walkouts-59%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2562964&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Teh piece argues that many student walkouts in defense of political causes are not spontaneous but are facilitated or encouraged by adults,citing examples from across the United States,including shorewood,Wisconsin. It highlights that in Wisconsin, truancy laws prohibit being absent from school without a valid excuse and prohibit contributing to truancy, noting that two state representatives who joined Shorewood students and praised the action could be seen as encouraging truancy. While the Shorewood School District stated it did not sponsor the walkout, it offered a parental excuse option, even though the district\u2019s attendance policy does not <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >list political demonstrations<\/a> as an excused absence. the article contends that adults should enforce the law and keep students focused on education, warning against using children as pawns in political battles. It closes with the author, jay P. Greene of the Defense of Freedom Institute, presenting this viewpoint.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>In an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisn.com\/article\/shorewood-students-walk-out-of-school-protest-ice\/70026672\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">affluent suburb of Milwaukee<\/a> in mid-January, dozens of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-illegal-for-leftist-agitators-to-encourage-high-school-walkouts-3\/\" title=\"It&#039;s Illegal For Leftist Agitators To Encourage High ... ...s\">students left school<\/a> in the middle of the day to protest actions by federal immigration authorities to detain and deport people in the U.S. illegally. Similar walkouts have been staged recently in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kare11.com\/article\/news\/local\/ice-in-minnesota\/students-walk-out-class-protest-ice-presence\/89-9dbdab7c-e04a-43f2-a844-249a3c266d94\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Minneapolis<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/kval.com\/news\/local\/benton-county-students-walk-out-in-protest-against-ice-activity-on-campuses-and-nationwide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Oregon<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/riverheadlocal.com\/2026\/01\/16\/riverhead-high-school-students-walk-out-to-protest-ice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Long Island<\/a>, and elsewhere. And over the past few years, walkouts to protest against Israel were organized in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/corner\/maryland-high-school-endorses-anti-israel-protest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Montgomery County<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/sfstandard.com\/2023\/10\/18\/san-francisco-high-school-kids-walkout-protest-israel-hamas-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">San Francisco<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/abc7chicago.com\/post\/chicago-public-schools-cps-walkout-ceasefire-gaza-war\/14373001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chicago<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/komonews.com\/news\/local\/seattle-students-walk-out-for-pro-palestinian-rally-israel-gaza-hamas-palestine-hostages-terrorism-occupation-middle-east-war-united-states-taxes-military-conflict-jewish-muslim\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Seattle<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbur.org\/news\/2023\/12\/01\/boston-latin-school-palestine-israel-walkout\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Boston<\/a>, among other places. It&rsquo;s fair to say that groups of students leaving school in left-leaning communities to advocate for leftist concerns has become a regular feature of the educational landscape.<\/p>\n<p>But these walkouts are typically not the spontaneous result of students seeking to express themselves. In almost all cases, these walkouts are encouraged, organized, or at a minimum facilitated by adults. To the extent that adults enable students to leave school so they can engage in political activism, they are in danger of violating the law.<\/p>\n<p>Let&rsquo;s consider the recent walkout in the Milwaukee suburb of Shorewood, Wisconsin. Being absent from school without a valid excuse is considered truancy, which is <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.legis.wisconsin.gov\/statutes\/statutes\/118\/15\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">prohibited by Wisconsin law<\/a>. Wisconsin law also forbids <a href=\"https:\/\/wilawlibrary.gov\/jury\/files\/criminal\/2173.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">contributing to truancy<\/a>, which &ldquo;is violated by any person 17 years of age or older who, by any act or omission, knowingly encourages or contributes to the truancy of a child.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Two state representatives, Darrin Madison and Ryan Clancy, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DTlZWYQD1un\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">joined the students in their walkout<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fU5W_MlGKvI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">made speeches to the small crowd<\/a>, praising them for their action. They led the group in chanting &ldquo;stand up, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/after-trumps-victory-there-can-be-no-unity-without-a-reckoning\/\" title=\"After Trump\u2019s Victory, There Can Be No Unity Without A Reckoning\">fight back&#038;rdquo<\/a>; and &ldquo;abolish ICE.&rdquo; While these political expressions are certainly protected speech, encouraging students to leave school by joining them and praising them would very likely constitute contributing to truancy. At a minimum, failing to tell them that they legally should be in school would be an omission that contributed to truancy.<\/p>\n<p>The leaders of the Shorewood School District may also have contributed to this truancy. While the district sent a letter to parents saying that the school did not sponsor the walkout, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisn.com\/article\/shorewood-students-walk-out-of-school-protest-ice\/70026672\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">letter did offer<\/a> that &ldquo;parents could excuse their students for the walkout by calling the attendance office.&rdquo; The district offered this option despite declaring on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shorewood.k12.wi.us\/families-students\/attendance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">its website<\/a> that &ldquo;regular attendance is a key part of student success in the Shorewood School District.&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/go.boarddocs.com\/wi\/shorewood\/Board.nsf\/goto?open&amp;id=DEEJX94F2E87\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">District policy<\/a> lists examples of permitted &ldquo;Parent-Excused Pre-Planned Absence,&rdquo; such as medical appointments or attending a funeral, but participating in a political demonstration is not among those excused absences.<\/p>\n<p>Some might argue that complying with technical requirements to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-illegal-for-leftist-agitators-to-encourage-high-school-walkouts\/\" title=\"It&#039;s Illegal For Leftist Agitators To Encourage High ... ...s\">attend school pales<\/a> in comparison to the broader issues facing our country. The protesting students obviously think so, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisn.com\/article\/shorewood-students-walk-out-of-school-protest-ice\/70026672\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">one said<\/a>: &ldquo;The mark that me and like my fellow students can leave on the world I think is much more important than, you know, like another day of AP physics and creative writing.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But these students are children, and children are not entitled to decide whether chanting &ldquo;abolish ICE&rdquo; is more important than learning physics and writing. Adults have to make these decisions on their behalf. And adults have enshrined their decisions in laws that compel children to attend school and forbid other adults from undermining that.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these laws, it is very tempting for adults wishing to advance political agendas to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-illegal-for-leftist-agitators-to-encourage-high-school-walkouts-2\/\" title=\"It&#039;s Illegal For Leftist Agitators To Encourage High ... ...s\">mobilize impressionable children<\/a> for their causes. As one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fU5W_MlGKvI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">student speakers at the protest emphasized<\/a>, perhaps with some hyperbole, &ldquo;America&rsquo;s youth is the best organizing tool there is.&rdquo; The youth are an attractive enough tool that some adults will be tempted to violate the law to wield it. It is the responsibility of other adults to call them out for these violations, enforce the law, and ensure that our children are focused on their education rather than on being used as pawns in the political battles of grown-ups.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Jay P. Greene is a senior fellow at the Defense of Freedom Institute.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Students walk out to protest U.S. immigration policy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":928,"featured_media":2562965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Copy-of-Untitled-13.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546,33651],"tags":[5152,33741,5894,4542,5513],"class_list":["post-2562964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","category-the-western-journal","tag-education","tag-legality","tag-politics","tag-protest","tag-youth"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Copy-of-Untitled-13.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2562964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/928"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2562964"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2562964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2562968,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2562964\/revisions\/2562968"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2562965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2562964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2562964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2562964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}