[NYTr] Aussie students cut classes to protest Bush

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

sent by Dave Muller (southnews)

ABC Online, Australia - Sep 5, 2007
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/09/05/2024923.htm


Students leave school to attend protest march

Hundreds of school students shouting anti-war slogans have marched 
through the streets of Sydney.

The students started their protest in Belmore Park, before marching 
through the centre of Sydney.

There was a heavy police presence escorting the march, and so far there 
has been no incidence of violence.

The students are marching in defiance of warnings from police, the New 
South Wales Government and Education Department, who told them not to 
leave their classrooms without permission.

The teenagers are asking for troops to be pulled out of Iraq, a change 
of Government in the US and Australia and action on climate change.

Similar protests were also happening in other Australian cities.

In Brisbane, about 100 students took the day off school to join a noisy 
protest march through Brisbane.

They chanted "Go home Bush", beat drums and brandished placards 
describing the US President as a terrorist.

Similar protests were also taking place in Melbourne, Adelaide, Geelong 
and Wollongong.

                           ***

Herald Sun - August 31, 2007


Students to walk for Bush protest

by Carla Danaher and Mark Dunn

A PROTEST group wants Victorian high school students to wag school and 
join a rally against US President George W. Bush's visit next week.

The group, Resistance, wants teenagers to down books and join a rally
at Flinders St station on Wednesday, a day after Mr Bush is to arrive
in the country for the APEC summit in Sydney.

But schools have warned students they will break school rules if they 
walk out of class without parental consent.

Walkout Against George (WAG) Bush is encouraging high school and 
university students to protest.

Resistance organiser Katie Cherrington said it was important young 
people used their democratic right to protest.

"High school students do not exist in a bubble. They are more affected 
by threats to the environment and these ongoing wars than older
people," Ms Cherrington said.

But Australian Education Union president Mary Bluett said encouraging 
students to stage a walkout put schools in a difficult position.

"It poses real problems for schools, because we have a duty of care if 
parents believe their child has come to school," Ms Bluett said.

Ms Cherrington said students from several Melbourne schools, including 
University High, Mill Park High and Footscray High, had indicated
interest.

Corey Snoek, a year 12 student at The Knox School, hopes up to 70 
students will join him in the protest. The 17-year-old said he had 
permission from his parents.

The Knox School principal Suzanne McChesney said it was a crucial time 
of year for senior students and she encouraged them not to miss class.

"If they wish to protest it can be via letter-writing or email," she
said.

University High assistant principal Dr Michael Janson said students who 
left school without parental permission for any reason would be dealt
with.

"We would certainly not punish any student specifically because they 
attended a protest," he said.

"If students choose to leave the school grounds, whether it's to go 
shopping or to a protest is irrelevant to us. We have a legal duty of
care."

A Department of Education spokesman said a student absent for any
reason must have the consent of a parent or guardian.

Meanwhile, Melbourne Stop The War Coalition -- set to travel to Sydney 
to protest next weekend -- says local bus company Dyson cancelled three 
booked buses because they had concerns about "ferals" and wanted to 
remain "politically neutral".

But a Dyson spokesman said the protesters told the company they were 
football fans who wanted the buses for a match.

Melbourne Stop The War Coalition spokesman Ben Hillier said the group 
had made other transport arrangements.

The Alliance for Civil Disobedience Co-ordination says more than 200 
Victorians will join up to 10,000 protesters in Sydney.

Melbourne-based socialists, anti-war activists, anarchists and 
anti-globalisation protesters plan to run the gauntlet against NSW 
police's new high-powered water cannon at the summit.

Police have threatened mass arrests and freed up 500 cells.