The Forgotten History of High School Student Activism

The Trump Administration’s crackdown on “woke” policies and changes to immigration enforcement have turned American public schools into political battlegrounds. Since entering office, the new administration has empowered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to target schools, churches and courthouses. Meanwhile, on Feb. 27, the U.S. Department of Education launched a portal called “End DEI,” which enables the public to submit complaints about diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at publicly funded K-12 schools.

Media coverage of ICE targeting schools has largely focused on fear. Many school districts are reporting attendance drops following highly publicized ICE raids as well as tragic incidents, such as a mother who alleged that her 11-year-old daughter died by suicide after being bullied over her family’s immigration status.

While many of these instances paint students as passive victims, there is another trend happening on high school campuses—one with deep historical roots.

High school students are organizing politically in ways reminiscent of their counterparts more than 50 years ago. When people think of student activism, they typically picture college campuses. Yet, during the 1960s and 1970s, teenagers built social movements that intersected with broader grassroots struggles and responded to both local and national issues. This activism is little remembered today, in part because it remained largely localized and national coverage was short lived. But these youth-led movements have had a long-lasting impact on school districts across the U.S., and they can provide young people today with clues as to what enables successful student activism.

High school student activism first emerged out of the civil rights movement. Teenagers had long been at the forefront of desegregation campaigns, sit-ins demonstrations, and civil rights demonstrations, most notably the 1963 Birmingham Children Crusades, when over 1,000 students skipped classes and marched downtown to protest racial segregation, only to be met with police violence. Some young people were inspired by their parents and others sought to continue long organizing traditions in their respective communities.

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In the mid 1960s, with the Vietnam War intensifying and Black Power and Chicano movements rising, teenagers once again emerged on the political front lines as they advocated for civil and constitutional rights, as well as curriculum changes and other reforms to improve their education. These protests occurred all across the nation, in large cities, suburbs, and small towns.

Activism among high school students often began with small acts such as by protesting the war by wearing black armbands. But this symbolic move carried consequences. In December 1965, when a group of teenagers in Des Moines, Iowa arrived to school wearing the insignia, school officials suspended them and barred them from returning until they removed the material. The students responded with a lawsuit against the school district, which eventually went before the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1969, in Tinker v. Des Moines, the Court ruled that “It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” The decision established unequivocally that students had at least some free speech rights. Even so, school officials continued to challenge the boundaries of what they could say and do.

Undeterred by the pushback from administrators and the potential for discipline, many teenagers joined anti-war organizations, while others created their own groups and organized their peers. They pressured school districts to offer classes about the draft and legal alternatives, invited anti-war speakers to offset the influence of military recruiters, and negotiated with administrators to leave class for major demonstrations.

When school officials refused, some students took unexcused absences or staged walkouts in protest. In October 1967, school officials suspended over 100 students at Berkeley High School in California for walking out to join an antiwar demonstration. Some parents tried to get the school board to reverse the suspensions, but school board members rejected the requests.

To be sure, such high school activism wasn’t confined to the war. Racial justice protests sparked the largest student uprisings. By some estimates, tens of thousands of students participated in boycotts, walkouts, sit-ins, and pickets over racial grievances. In Chicago alone, some 27,000 to 35,000 students boycotted school on Oct. 14, 1968 to demand community control of Black schools and other educational reforms. Similarly, one of Boston’s largest student protests came in the spring of 1971, when over 50% of Black students staged a citywide strike to protest “endemic racism, system-wide segregation, and poor education.” The boycott fell short of its goals, but it did lead to the temporary removal of police from campuses, amnesty for striking students, the creation of Black studies courses, the elimination of dress codes, as well as more support for Black student groups.

Historically, the most successful protests were followed by continued civic engagement, which included attending school board meetings, writing letters to local newspapers, and spreading awareness through underground publications.

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The famous 1968 case of the East Los Angeles walkouts epitomized this kind of sustained pressure. The battle between students and school officials began brewing when a group of students submitted demands to the Los Angeles school board, including that they hire Mexican American teachers and administrators, as well as offering bilingual education. The board summarily dismissed them. In response, 15,000 students from five East Los Angeles high schools walked out in protest. Again, the board refused to act, citing financial constraints.

 The walkouts didn’t immediately change policy, but they prompted Los Angeles colleges and universities to reach out to Mexican American students. Subsequently, Latino college enrollment increased. The “blowouts,” as these school walkouts were called, inspired students well beyond Los Angeles. In Texas, there were 39 student walkouts in the years that followed.

The activism of the 1960s and 1970s offers lessons for high school students today.

The most difficult task young people face—and a crucial key to their success—is sustaining momentum. It’s easier to get people to show up to a one-off demonstration, but much harder to secure a sustained commitment. Achieving this goal requires the most active students to keep their peers informed on what is happening and to connect disparate student communities. Today’s students have the advantage of instant communication via social media, something unimaginable for activists 50 years ago, who relied on letters and in-person networking.

Another key lesson is that student activists should expect resistance, set-backs, and some failure in getting demands met. Today’s protests may not yield immediate results, but the efforts alone have the potential to ignite momentum, which eventually produces real change. That happened frequently in the 1960s and 1970s, when students persevered after initial disappointments.  

Today’s teenagers are following the lead of their patriotic predecessors. Learning from the longer history of high school student activism can empower today’s teenage organizers to better navigate challenges, sustain their efforts, and push for meaningful change in their communities and beyond.

Aaron G. Fountain, Jr. is an independent historian with a PhD in history from Indiana University. He is the author of the forthcoming book, High School Students Unite!: Teen Activism, Education Reform, and FBI Surveillance in Postwar America.