woolymonkey | fees protests

Both teen monkeys went to school yesterday apparently unaware of any planned fees protests. Then they heard about a demo out on Parker's Piece and in town with 6th form and university students. They were told that anyone who went would get a 50 minute detention the next day.

Squirrel, along with most of the Year 8s, decided to stay in school. This is good and we are proud of him.

Spider, along with most of the Year 10s, decided to go on the protest. This is good and we are proud of him.

The Parkside students marched over to the Coleridge site (past

tamaranth 's house) to pick up more protesters. The Headteacher got there first so they didn't pick up that many, but there were LOTS from Parkside. Then they marched and rallied around town, Parker's Piece, and the Senate House. Yes, they were chanting "Fuck the Fees", but they also managed to pull together an impromptu brass band and make up some songs.

Teachers and police were approaching kids in school uniform and telling them to go back to class--that they might be punished if they stayed at the demo, but certainly wouldn't be if they went back to school. All the younger kids and some of Spider's friends left at this point, but Spider and the other tall ones zipped their coats up to look like 6th formers or students so they were allowed to get on with it. Later on, it got a bit rougher and they saw somebody get arrested so they sensibly decided to leave.

If the school put him on detention--which seems unlikely--he'll take it. But there won't be any additional punishment at home because we see nothing wrong in what he did. Quite how we'll handle this if it becomes a regular event, we'll have to decide as we go along.

He managed to go to double Maths before the protest (best Maths ever--only 7 students there and all of them able and interested!) and English afterwards. So all he missed was French (but his teacher was at the protests during lunchtime, so she won't mind) and compulsory Humanities (which surely includes Citizenship, which is what he was doing, no?). It was certainly a political education, especially watching different organisations put their spins on what happened.

The Head is saying it was all down to 'agitators' from the universities, but Spider didn't see anyone not from the school until their march joined up with the others at the rally.

BBC East news was all about of how the protest '"is turning very angry now with students climbing the building". Spider (who swears he didn't climb anything, though I suspect he hopped over some railings) says, "Putting up banners is not 'very angry'!" Footage behind the reporter seems to bear him out. National media seems to be focussed on people burning things, and how the students were there for selfish reasons while the school kids didn't understand and just wanted to bunk off.

Of course a lot of them just wanted to bunk off, but it's really not beyond your average 15-year-old to understand the unfairness of burdening this year's lower 6th with 3 times as much debt as the upper 6th. They know this will affect the rest of their lives. They don't see how any of them can become, say, a teacher, and hope to buy a house--ever. And they followed the election enough to know they've been lied to.

Edited to add Cambridge News because it has footage of Parkside/Coleridge kids marching and a quote from the Head.