Comments On The California Student Protests

Produced by HuffPost's Eyes & Ears Citizen Journalism Unit by Vincent Chandler

The March 4th day of protest in California inspired a lot of media coverage. This was not particularly surprising, as it was the biggest student protest of the past forty years. What was rather surprising, to me at least, were the comments. The dominant refrain seemed to be, "These kids are just whining...wait till they get into the real world."

Though some feel that college is apart from the real world, I contend that college is a part of the real world. College is the first time that students are invited to discuss what it means to live as citizens of world. The current debate and protest is simply not just about fees and quality, it is also about who will ultimately have the right to learn and think critically about their world and their place within in.

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