PHOENIX — Students around the Valley are coalescing around the issue of immigration enforcement, with hundreds of high schoolers staging walkouts this week to protest ICE.
Events around the country, and right here in the Valley, are prompting more students to speak their voice. They are also using social media like TikTok to stay informed and apps like Snapchat to mobilize hundreds at a moment's notice.
Walkouts have been planned at dozens of schools around the Valley. Watch video from those demonstrations in the player below:
“People just started joining. We started adding people if they wanted to be added, and then people were like, we should make posters, and then we were like, this is going to be peaceful, very kind," said Annalise Sandifer, a junior at Horizon High School who helped organize a protest.
RELATED: Two teens arrested in Mesa after anti-ICE protest, teen girl arrested in Chandler
Social media is how Taylor, another Valley high schooler, gets his conservative values out there. Taylor says the late Charlie Kirk was a big influence in his life, and he believes that more Gen Z peers need to consider his views.
“I use social media to spark conversation, to spark people’s opinions, to challenge them and to see what everybody thinks, you know," said Taylor.
In the video player above, we speak with more Valley high schoolers about why they are walking out and speaking up about recent events nationwide.
On Thursday, Maricopa County School Superintendent Shelli Boggs issued the following statement regarding the student walkouts:
“The First Amendment is a foundational American right, and students should be taught its meaning and function. It is neither reasonable nor appropriate for students to walk out of class during the school day to protest federal policies or agencies, including ICE. Instructional time is limited and valuable, and walkouts during school hours, regardless of the issue, disrupt learning, undermine classroom stability, and place schools in the middle of political disputes they are not intended to referee.
There are serious school safety concerns when students, many of whom are under the age of 18, leave campus during the school day. Parents send their children to school with the expectation that they will be in class, accounted for, and safe, not walking out of campus as part of political activity. Allowing minors to leave school during instructional hours creates real risks to student safety and exposes schools and families to liability. Public schools must remain focused on academics and neutral in political matters. Teachers and staff should not encourage, organize, or participate in student walkouts or protests during instructional time. Their responsibility is to educate - not to advocate. Parents expect schools to prioritize reading, writing, math, and student achievement, and that expectation is reasonable and must be respected.”
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has also issued a statement regarding potential student protests at Arizona public schools:
“Students have the First Amendment right to peacefully protest but it should be done after school hours. Teachers and other school personnel should not be a part of a protest during class time.”
Mesa Public Schools also sent a statement:
"Dear Mesa Public Schools Community,
I am writing to address a recent increase in student walkouts during the school day across our secondary schools. The multiple walkouts disrupt learning, raise significant concerns about student safety, and put a strain on administrative and security resources. Moreover, once students leave campus, they are no longer under school supervision, leaving it up to community and local law enforcement to help ensure safety through their resources.
While Mesa Public Schools respects students’ rights, the scale and nature of these walkouts have resulted in a material and substantial disruption to our educational system, diverting extensive school, district, and community resources away from instruction and student support. In particular, while we have security staff at junior high schools, the walkouts require us to use resources from other school sites to ensure the safety of students in and around our junior high schools.
We ask for your partnership in communicating with your student(s) that remaining on campus and in class during the school day is the expectation. Instructional time is critical, and walkouts compromise both learning and safety. Moving forward, Mesa Public Schools students who walk out of school during the school day will continue to be marked absent and may face disciplinary consequences in accordance with the district’s discipline matrix [email-link.parentsquare.com] across several infractions. Please note that excessive absences may result in loss of credit for a course, which can affect graduation.
Please speak with your student about these matters to ensure that they understand our expectations to remain in class and engaged with learning.
Thank you for your support.
Dr. Matt Strom
Superintendent, Mesa Public Schools"
