system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: Schools shouldn't do anything to accommodate students who choose to protest or walk out for any reason

Let me start by saying that I fully support the right of students to protest.  I do not support schools instituting special policies that allow students to leave school for a period of time, say 30 minutes.  Neither do I support a school looking the other way and allowing such protest.  Schools should stand by the rules in place, whether it is to mark the students absent, tardy, suspension, etc.  

For instance, the consequence of a group student walkout should be the same as the consequence for a single student who walks out for an unexcused reason.  The consequence of protesting on campus should be the same as the consequence for a single student disrupting classes for whatever reason.

Here's my rational.  Walkouts and on-campus protests are examples of civil disobedience.  The students are knowingly breaking the rules.  Our children should know that civil disobedience has consequences.  That doesn't mean they shouldn't engage in it, but protestors should always weigh the cost vs. the injustice and make individual decisions on whether they believe it is worth it or not.

The civil rights protestors in the past didn't get free passes.  They were beaten, jailed, and sometimes killed for protesting their cause, yet they did so because their cause was just.  College kids protesting to achieve their right to vote were arrested for trespass.  Women's suffrage protesters were often ostracized from their communities and/or beaten by their families.  I am not saying that most of these actions were justified, but they risk these folks faced to protest their cause helped to amplify the message.

I fear that the US has gotten to a place where people believe that they should have no consequences for protesting.  People block traffic, then get outraged when they are arrested.  People trespass, and then post videos of outrage that the landowners protected their land and/or the protesters were arrested.  We've come to a point where people think that they should protest at any turn without consequence.  I think this waters down the causes worth protesting and it reduces the chance that the protest will actually accomplish anything.

If the students walk out with their schools' permissions, it will be a small news event that changes no minds.  If the students decide that they will accept failure on whatever assignment/test they had that day and/or face suspension for their walkout and still walk out, then their message is heard a little stronger.  If they actually lock arms, sit in, and get arrested for their action, they are finally going to be heard.
gpt
The right to protest is a constitutional right under the first amendment.   You should be able to exercise your constitutional liberties without fear of prosecution.    
  
I see this as akin to saying "schools/workplaces should not allow their students/employees to vote.   This would add more weight to those few who actually decide to risk punishment to vote."   
   
Furthermore, It is not unusual for schools to leave class for legitimate reasons, without suffering penalties for being absent.   If the chess club can be absent to go to a chess tournament, if the football team can be absent to attemd a football game, if the entire school can miss class for a pep rally, they why shouldn't students be able to miss classes for a peaceful protest?