On January 30, Erika Franklin, a resident of Auburn, Washington, went to Olympic Middle School in Auburn to pick up her daughter after school. To her shock, she saw hundreds of students gathered outside the school, many of whom were loudly insulting immigrants and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Franklin, 39, expressed her surprise that students were participating in such a political activity and misbehaving instead of being in the classrooms receiving education at that time.
She was worried that her 13-year-old daughter, who was in seventh grade, was passively involved in the turmoil. Franklin’s eyes searched the crowd continuously, looking for her daughter. The chaos even disrupted the traffic.
“My heart immediately felt like it was on fire, and my stomach started to ache,” Franklin recalled in an interview with The Epoch Times on February 4.
Franklin said her daughter remained in the classroom, but the child seemed confused and scared about the protest activity.
Franklin recorded videos of the protest scene and her reaction, which were widely shared on social media.
“I am taking my child out of school today,” she said in the video.
In the second half of the video, Franklin told school staff, “This is unbelievable. I can’t believe my child is in this environment right now; I am shocked… as a parent and an adult, I feel very embarrassed.”
In another video, Franklin tearfully apologized to her daughter for the pressure she experienced and promised to transfer her to another school.
In recent weeks, similar scenes have appeared in schools across the United States.
In January of this year, two fatal clashes occurred in Minnesota involving ICE and other federal immigration enforcement officers, sparking a wave of anti-ICE protests by adults, which then spread to children on school campuses.
Student walkouts occurring across the country have raised important issues about conflicting interests: child safety, parental rights, children’s rights, and school responsibilities. Some walkouts have even escalated into violence and disruptive behavior.
Many schools have publicly stated that they cannot infringe on students’ freedom of speech.
Some parents hold different opinions, believing that these rights are not absolute. A 1969 Supreme Court ruling supports the view of these parents.
According to a report by the National Constitution Center based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the case of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), the court ruled that “when a student’s speech ‘materially or substantially interferes’ with the operation of the school and its core mission (i.e., teaching and educating), the school can restrict the student’s speech.”
Despite warnings from Texas officials on February 3 that penalties will be imposed on students, schools, and staff participating in walkouts, protests in the area are still ongoing.
Other states seem to allow protest activities to continue, causing concerns for parents like Franklin.
“If they don’t stop this behavior, more people will lose their lives, and the consequences will be unimaginable,” she said. “If you don’t respect law enforcement and still want to go protest outside, then you should know what consequences you will have to face.”
Franklin stated, “Children, schools, and churches are off-limits for political protests,” with no “excuses.”
Living 1,660 miles away from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Franklin’s home is in the center of recent ICE resistance activities. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz recently told The Atlantic in Washington, D.C., that progressive values of Minnesotans clashed with the values and immigration enforcement stance of U.S. President Trump.
Brandie Jones, a parent of a student in Texas, called Forney, Texas, a “very conservative city” filled with political conservatives. However, even in such a city, about 200 students participated in a walkout at North Forney High School on February 5.
At the protest site, a helicopter was hovering in the air, police cars were lined up along the route, and many people were waving Mexican flags and signs that read, “No one is illegal on stolen land,” sometimes even shouting obscenities against ICE.
Parent Jones came to support the walkout. She told The Epoch Times that she believes students’ voices should be heard.
However, she said many Forney parents she knows complain that students should focus on studying in school.
Jones said, “This short 30 minutes won’t affect your education.”
Two Forney protesters told The Epoch Times they genuinely opposed ICE. Franklin and others, however, worry that adults are encouraging school-age children to actively participate in a social movement which they are too young to understand.
Critics also warned that school districts are failing to live up to parental trust—if protests escalate into violence, if children get into trouble, or if they get injured unsupervised, school officials could face legal consequences.
Indeed, instances of concern raised by parents have already appeared.
Authorities in Texas are investigating a recent violent incident that occurred in Austin. A video showed about 500 students leaving the Hays Consolidated Independent School District on February 2 to protest against ICE, with a public school student refusing police arrest.
The Salt Lake City Police in Utah said they arrested four people on January 30 during a student strike for “blocking roads and refusing to comply with a lawful dispersal order.” The police did not specify whether students were among those arrested, but local news reports stated that many students participated in the strike without clarifying if they were among those arrested. The police also thanked all peaceful law-abiding citizens.
In Fremont, Nebraska, on January 29, a student was hit by a car during a walkout, prompting legal scholar Jonathan Turley to comment on X Platform: “This could lead to an interesting lawsuit, as schools play a direct role in instigating protest activities.”
Turley cited a TV report where the girl’s mother expressed her anger because her daughter was allowed to leave the campus and even used class time to make protest signs.
Subsequently, WOWT television station in Omaha, Nebraska, reported that five teenagers and one adult were issued citations related to the protest.
Upon a request for comment from The Epoch Times, Fremont Public Schools issued a press release confirming that a protest strike had indeed occurred and describing the measures taken by the school district.
The district stated, “Staff was present at all times to help monitor student activities and encourage safe, peaceful behavior.” The district added, “We respect students’ right to express opinions through peaceful demonstrations but safety is always a top priority. The district will continue to work closely with school staff, emergency personnel, and community partners to review this incident and identify any measures that may help prevent similar events from happening in the future.”
The district also stated that participating students in the strike would be marked as unexcused absences, and parents had been informed.
Many school districts across the country have released statements similar to Frankton-Lapel Community Schools in central Indiana.
On February 3, district director Sterling Boles sent a message to parents and staff, stating that the district “respects students’ right to free speech protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution.”
“While we do not endorse or encourage walkouts, we recognize the importance of civic engagement,” he wrote.
The school mentioned that ensuring students’ safety in a “learning-focused environment” is the district’s top priority. The letter also mentioned that students intending to leave campus would be “strongly discouraged.”
Boles wrote that staff would be present to “supervise any student activities, ensuring a peaceful and secure environment.”
According to Rhyen Staley, research director of the non-profit organization Defending Education, as protest networks expand, these issues are expected to continue. The organization aims to “rebuild high-quality, non-politicized education for all students,” as stated on its website.
Staley told The Epoch Times that some kindergarten-age children also participated in the strike.
“They should not be political tools,” he said. “I mean, they are now being used as political tools.”
Staley, a father of two middle school children, found evidence indicating that left-wing groups seem to be encouraging, organizing, and even training K-12 basic education students in the Twin Cities of Minnesota to oppose ICE.
In a report released on January 23, Staley stated that the radical organization Sunrise Movement appears linked to student actions in Minnesota.
The Epoch Times contacted the Sunrise Movement for comments but did not receive a response. However, the organization’s social media posts show their support for student walkouts.
“Government officials, MAGA extremists, and politicians try to scare us into not taking action, but our generation will not back down,” the Sunrise Movement organization wrote on X Platform.
Staley noted that his research also indicates that other groups, such as teachers’ unions and associations, are also involved in public school protest activities across the country.
Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association (NEA), based in Washington, D.C., appeared in a video for the Sunrise Movement organization on January 30, two days before the “National Day of Action” coordinated by the NationalShutdown.org organization.
“On behalf of the entire National Education Association (NEA) representing all education professionals in the United States… thank you to the Sunrise Movement in Minneapolis and many other cities in our country standing on the frontline seeking various forms of justice,” Pringle said in the video.
She criticized the federal government for “waging war on the American people” and pledged her organization with 3 million members would help fight this war. Her remarks were part of a speech titled “Roadmap to Political Revolution.”
Minnesota State Republican Representative Pam Altendorf, a member of the Education Finance Committee, expressed unease about teacher unions like Education Minnesota, opposing ICE practices.
“It is a powerful voice, so many students are getting involved,” she told The Epoch Times. She said many of her constituents also expressed similar concerns.
Education Minnesota, representing 84,000 members, released a webpage including a photo of an anti-ICE protest and accompanying statement. The statement reads, “Large numbers of ICE personnel have surged into Minnesota in recent weeks, causing chaos and fear among students, families, and education workers throughout the state.”
The page also provided guidance for teachers on how to handle ICE actions. On February 4, the Minnesota Department of Education and two school districts filed a lawsuit against the federal government over a policy change that allows ICE to enforce in previously “sensitive locations” like school premises.
The Epoch Times was unable to reach the union for a statement on student walkout issues, and the union did not respond to a request for comment.
Altendorf expressed concerns about the “anger and rage escalation” caused by misinformation and outside agitators in Minnesota, even extending to school-age children.
Some parents, including Franklin, observed signs of adults influencing children to participate in protest activities.
“As far as I have seen, school staff and many parents encouraged, supported, and condoned all of this,” Franklin said.
However, two Texas students interviewed by The Epoch Times, both seniors at North Forney High School, said they were simply expressing their personal beliefs.
Soren Hernandez, a 17-year-old sophomore, helped organize the protest in Forney. She said her parents supported her decision to participate in the protest.
She held a Mexican flag her parents gave her for the occasion and expressed pride in being the daughter of immigrants.
“Teachers have indeed advised against this to our participants,” she said, “but this cannot stop the right things from happening.”
Isaiah Pacheco, an 18-year-old senior at Forney, said, “We don’t want to harm anyone, and we don’t want to cause chaos; we just want to voice our opinions.”
He acknowledged that some parents opposed the march for safety reasons. Organizers instructed students not to walk on the road, so they only walked on the sidewalks or grass.
When asked about her opinion on the protest activities, the school district provided a statement to The Epoch Times, a message sent to high school parents the day before the walkout.
“We never allow students to leave class under any circumstances without permission,” the district statement read.
“However, our staff could not dissuade students from choosing to leave classes in any way.”
The statement also warned that participants would face disciplinary action according to the Student Code of Conduct.
Another school district issued a statement in Texas, saying that walkouts were “not permitted” after receiving parent complaints, including those from Kristi Jones. Nonetheless, Jones told The Epoch Times she witnessed a protest event during class on February 6.
Two days prior, the Plano school district announced a policy change banning such protest activities in line with state regulations. Jones said she sent photos of the walkout to school officials. The images showed students carrying “flags, megaphones, and signs” on the sidewalk for half an hour or longer before the end of the school day.
Despite multiple attempts to contact the district before and after the February 6 protest, The Epoch Times did not receive a response.
Jones told The Epoch Times about when she first expressed her concerns, a school official had a more lenient attitude towards the walkout. She said, after herself and others questioned the walkout plan, the district changed its policy. Jones stated that her recent video on the subject online has nearly reached 1 million views.
In a video, Jones said she would not allow her daughter to be used as a “moral shield.”
“We are talking about minors,” she said, highlighting that schools should act as “substitutes for parents” during school hours.
She also mentioned that students’ free speech in school should be restricted, especially in cases affecting safety or disrupting education. She asserted that walkouts would harm both aspects.
38-year-old Jones urged parents to call schools and ask, “Are you allowing students to leave campus during school hours to participate in political protests?” She said parents should insist on receiving a clear “yes” or “no” response.
Jones claimed a school official initially stated that students could participate in a 10-minute walkout.
“As a parent, this is absolutely unacceptable… If my children don’t return to school, what will happen? What if someone kidnaps them? Many things could happen,” Jones told The Epoch Times.
She said herself and her daughter had previously experienced harassment and were currently under a protection order, intensifying her worries.
She provided The Epoch Times with a screenshot of a notification sent by the Plano school district to the entire district on February 4.
“The district does not allow walkouts or protest activities during instructional days,” the statement read.
The statement noted the decision was based on guidance from the Texas Education Agency to address the “panic” caused by student protests and walkouts.
According to the statement, “State law requires school districts to ensure students come to school, maintain student safety, and ensure the learning environment is not disturbed.”
Thus, any walkout would be considered an unexcused absence, and participants could face additional disciplinary action according to the Student Code of Conduct.
The TEA on February 3 issued a statement noting that students, school staff, and students in Texas would face consequences for walkouts.
The statement specified, “Students must be marked as absent and may risk losing daily attendance funding if the school allows or encourages students to leave class. Teachers who organize student walkouts will face investigation and penalties, including the revocation of teaching certificates.”
The agency further mentioned that unexcused absences could lead to student disciplinary action.
The TEA emphasized action taken in response to an order from Texas Governor Greg Abbott, requiring relevant institutions to investigate suspected “inappropriate political activities disrupting the learning environment of Texas public schools.”
J. Michael Waller, a former CIA operative and current Strategic Director at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C., asserted that walkout behaviors aligned with progressive concepts instilled in American schools for many years.
He stated that if young people have been “injected with anti-American poison” from kindergarten onwards, they are inclined to believe in these principles and act upon them.
Franklin, a mother from Washington, noted that many students, including her daughter, reported teachers instilling left-wing ideologies on issues like ICE. It is this reason that she found the protest to be the tipping point for her, despite her daughter not participating.
Upon The Epoch Times’ request for comments, Auburn School District issued a statement authored by Superintendent Alan Spicciati addressing the protest activity that alarmed Franklin occurring on January 30.
Spicciati wrote that the district “neither encouraged nor endorsed” the walkout. Instead, some students chose to participate in the National Day of Action against ICE while citing the school board’s policy on free speech and assembly rights.
“If an expression doesn’t materially and substantially interfere with the operations of the school and its core function, it has the support of our district,” one policy provision stated.
Another document indicated that the district “reserves the right to supervise the time, place, and manner of assemblies to ensure safety and order.”
The superintendent stated that when the demonstration started, the school “immediately took action to ensure student safety.”
While the district’s letter did not provide specific details about this, Franklin told The Epoch Times she saw people in yellow vests—whom she believed to be school staff—directing traffic at the protest scene.
Franklin also described some unsettling behaviors of students she witnessed.
Some student signs included profanity and condemned ICE and President Trump. Other signs carried slogans like “Abolish ICE.”
“I heard one child say, ‘If you want to shoot someone, shoot me,'” Franklin said.
She recalled that she believed the protesters could tell she did not support their actions. She said that as she walked into the school to find her daughter, they kept insulting her.
The statement noted that the school marked participating students in this activity as “unexcused absences.”
Despite feeling unsettled by the protest, Franklin said it was, in a way, a “good thing” as it opened up new dialogues with her two children—her daughter and her 16-year-old son.
“They are now asking me questions… so I have to learn how to properly explain things to them,” she said. “Thank God, they now understand… and I explain to them with facts.”
Franklin is not worried that her tenth-grade son will be influenced by the protest activities as he attends fully online school courses, which work well for him.
To support Franklin’s desire to send her daughter to a private school, a team working with podcast host Brandi Kruse initiated a national crowdfunding campaign on GiveSendGo.
As of February 5, the fundraiser had raised over $13,000, exceeding the $10,000 goal to pay for Franklin’s daughter to attend a Christian school associated with her church.
Franklin said without these funds, she would struggle to pay the tuition; she used to work as a beautician but suffered severe injuries in an ATV accident in 2015, resulting in disability.
Knowing her daughter will receive “unmatched security anywhere” at the new school, she feels relieved.
She expressed concern for other children and hoped school officials would put an end to the walkout behavior.
Otherwise, Franklin said, “None of these children are safe—not one of them.”