Civil Disobedience In Schools

Improved Essays
When one is in highschool it is essential that they focus on subjects they will use in their future careers. By having so many requirements regarding mandatory classes, students are often held back from taking classes that interest them and not having enough space to focus on subjects that matter to them. I will use civil disobedience to stop this. I plan on protesting taking all required classes. Some classes should be required, but only to be taken once. Otherwise if a student is certain that they are not going to have a career that requires that subject they should not be required to take it because having that class is taking up a class period that could be used for a class that the student is excited and motivated about. From protesting …show more content…
My close friends and family will support me in the beginning but as our cause gets larger, I believe that more people will join in the civil disobedience. For if people are in careers that they are more interested in, the quality of their work will be better, and in the end make the world a better place. I think that the public would view my civil disobedience as productive because school would be changed completely. Students would be so much more enthusiastic about learning and care less about stereotypical high school distractions.
My desired outcomes of protesting would be to gain recognition from people about how this could change everything about current high school. Recognition is also the most important in making change because it creates a following, and reaches out to people who agree with your cause.
I think that it is healthy and important for everyone to practice civil disobedience at a point in their lives. It keeps people from becoming dependent on other people for ideas and lets people harvest change in society. Without disobedience everything would always stay the same and no change would happen. At the same time I don't think everyone is strong enough to disobey what they have been told is the “right way.” Civil disobedience not only makes you a better person but it is an indicator of strength in

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    “Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made- disobedience and rebellion.” These words spoken from Oscar Wilde explain what has happened over decades. Time and time again, people have gone against the law to do what was right. Not only did it make a small difference, it changed what the future would be like for everyone.…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In history, civil disobedience has always played a big role when opposing corrupted power; by either changing a system or overthrowing a monarchy. Throughout time, many man and woman have stepped out of the social norms and with it creating the opportunity for a change of future generations. Individuals such as Martin Luther King, civil right activist who fought against segregation, are people that create a change in our society. As he once said “ We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” , people like him are the ones that fight to obtain peace and eradicate unnecessary wars.…

    • 1181 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Leafing through more than 200 years of American history reveals that civil disobedience has roots dating back to before the founding of our democratic republic. Beginning with the Stamp Act of 1765, American colonists had openly disobeyed laws that they considered unconstitutional, refusing to oblige to any of Britain’s partisan orders. Standing against all odds, these colonists established one of democracy’s core principle: citizens should actively oppose laws they consider…

    • 692 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Civil disobedience is very important in getting your point across when doing a protest. If you want people to listen to you and consider your opinion, you must be respectful while still letting people know that you are not okay with a certain concept. For example, in “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau states “Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect.” In other words, let your opinion be known, but be respectful. This is similar to what is going on in the NFL today, but the players are being looked at as disrespectful in some people's eyes.…

    • 191 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “ There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair (King 285).” If the people have attempted multiple times to invoke change, but the authorities have not listened, eventually the people will have no choice but to lash out and fight back for their rights. It is like provoking a caged animal -- eventually the animal will have had enough and will attack it’s captor. Another situation in which civil disobedience would not be suitable would be if acting out would do more harm than it would good (Thoreau). This could cause the fragile order of the world to fracture and it could lead to more issues down the road.…

    • 919 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Students of Cass Tech and Renaissance high school performed walkouts in support of their teachers. When the students found out their teachers were going to get an injunction, they immediately jumped into action. Most of the students wanted to walk out of class as a form of protest. During one of the walk-outs a CMA student named Terrance stated, “When we walked out of school, we make a change, we’re here because we have a voice”(Hanover 2). Even though, the Detroit Public Schools district threatened to suspend students five days if they participate in the walk-outs.…

    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    No other form of fighting oppression has the power to gain such widespread attention, support, or change from the public that civil disobedience…

    • 1166 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Disobedience has and always will be necessary for changes throughout society. It is a valuable human trait that promotes social progress and many examples can be found throughout history that made a huge impact or change in the way the world is today. Important social changes can only be made through acts of disobedience to promote progress. A well known, famous, and historical example of disobedience comes from Mohandas Gandhi, the leader of the Indian independence movement in the once British-ruled India. Ghandi’s defiance of British laws over the empires salt monopoly sparked a wave of civil disobedience that contributed to expelling the British empire.…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Civil disobedience has an honorable history, and when the urgency and moral clarity cross a certain threshold, then I think that civil disobedience is quite understandable, and it has a role to play.” –Al Gore Applying civil disobedience has altered the very foundation of American democracy and shined as an example for peaceful protest in a way of respect and cordiality (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2014). Henry Thoreau was the most influential civil disobedient in the world’s history, not only for his specific acts of disobedience but his lasting impacts on giants of civil change, such as: Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi. A movement hinges on the principles of its creator, this idea reigns true when discussing the acts of civil disobedience practiced by Henry Thoreau.…

    • 926 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Civil Disobedience is deliberately violating a law that may be found unobjectionable. Its purpose may be to publicize an unjust law or appeal to public conscience. “Citizens of good conscience should actively oppose unjust government policies through nonviolent resistance, such as refusal to pay taxes. They should be willing to go to jail rather than yield to immoral or unethical government law and activities.” (Thoreau)…

    • 105 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In many recent occurrences, American citizens have demonstrated their ignorance towards the definition of civil disobedience by rioting and looting. In order to protest issues in an effective manner, the definition of civil disobedience must be known. Many high ranking historical and modern day figures tend to agree that civil disobedience must have a just cause, it must be an action that disrupts the status quo in some way, and finally, the civil disobedience must be proportional to the impact of the injustice on the rights and the lives of American citizens. In order for “Civil Disobedience” not to devolve into aimless complaining, the civil disobedience must develop out of an injustice perpetrated on a person, a group of people, or a society.…

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Civil Disobedience have a much more powerful movement then does violence. It was used during the civil rights movement by Martin Luther King, during the Vietnam war, and lastly Gandhi for freedom from the British. In On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau “the soldier is applauded who refuses to serve in an unjust war by those who do not refuse to sustain the unjust government which makes the war.” Thoreau was talking about the Mexican American War but in context of protesting for racial profiling the one that protest for the right of the good and stop kill and practice racial profiling. Civil disobedience is form of protest that has been successfully used across history for the greater good and man of the times it works.…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Today, not many would argue that reasons for civil disobedience exist. Times have evolved and laws reformed and revoked. However, room for reform is still present, perhaps somewhere people would not expect; in the…

    • 2371 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Robert O’Connor Concord High School New Hampshire Like many things in life, civil disobedience, is all a matter of perspective. Whether it be the Great Muhammad Ali peacefully opposing his selection for the draft or Rosa Parks literally sitting down instead of standing up for what is right on a bus ride home, each and every case of civil disobedience has its ups and downs. Though, when talking about basic human rights, there is no room to be neutral, and that is why peaceful resistance to laws most certainly impacts a society positively. From an optimistic perspective, everything will be alright in the end. Despite Ali’s…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    They will also acknowledge that this right can be evoked. It’s something to consider, however, for those few mature, responsible students who can make it back to classes on time. This is all about options and choices. After all, the way to a finer education is with a satisfied…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays