ETHICAL DILEMMAS IN STUDENT WALKOUTS: BALANCING CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, INSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY, AND SAFETY
Keywords:
Student activism has been a defining aspect of civic engagement in the United States.Abstract
The case study of the 2016 student walkouts in Portland, Oregon, protesting Donald Trump's election (Riveros and Fernald, n.d.), presents an ethical dilemma for school districts as they balance students' rights to political expression with institutional authority and safety. This paper applies ethical frameworks—deontology, utilitarianism, virtue ethics, and theories of justice—to evaluate how school leaders should react to student activism. The analysis concludes that an ethically sound response involves supporting student activism while ensuring that policies are fair, inclusive, and sustainable.
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