Texas Student Walkouts Are Worth the Consequences

The Texas Education Agency has issued new guidance on student walkouts, and honestly, kids, it’s still worth doing if you feel strongly about something.

Walkouts aren’t new, and they don’t always come with a political agenda. Sometimes students walk out because a favorite teacher was treated unfairly. Sometimes it’s to support a fellow student. Sometimes it is political. The point is: students have always used walkouts as a way to say, “Hey, something matters to us.”

Sure—math, reading, and the basics matter. But high school, especially junior and senior year, is a launchpad into adulthood. I can honestly say my entire senior year in Texas was more about preparing for real life than anything I learned in whatever forgettable classes I had. So if something is weighing on your heart or your conscience, and you feel you need to be heard, I believe that outweighs just about any punishment the school dishes out.

Texas Students Face New TEA Rules, but Speaking Up Still Matters

Under the TEA’s new rule, any walkout results in an automatic unexcused absence. I'm sure the agency thinks this is a major deterrent, but in reality? It’s a shoulder-shrug from most teens. As long as you’re not crossing the threshold where unexcused absences threaten your ability to move forward or graduate, it’s really not the hammer they think it is.

I had plenty of unexcused absences in high school, and I remember those days as some of the most fun, freeing, and formative moments of my teenage life. The difference is, while I was goofing off at the beach or drinking in a park, today’s walkouts are often rooted in justice, solidarity, or personal conviction. If students want to stand up for something meaningful, then a single unexcused absence is a tiny price to pay for shaping the adult they’ll eventually become.