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Tens of thousands of students from California to Texas to Washington D.C. have been walking out of class this week. And it's not because they are tired of taking those pesky exit exams.

According to newspaper accounts, the mostly Latino students are taking a stand against U.S. House Bill 4437, which would make it a *felony* to be in the United States illegally and calls for 700 miles of fences along the Southwest U.S. border. The Senate version of the bill, which will be voted on soon, is quite different: it would allow millions of undocumented immigrants to pursue permanent legal status.

No matter how you feel about the legislation, you've got to respect these students for fighting for respect. They feel immigrants' rights are on the line and instead of sitting back, they are standing up to make their voices heard. They risked getting in trouble at school to exercise their rights to free speech and to protest. And people are listening. The Senate bill is more popular now than the House bill.

Fighting for equality and speaking up are Respect Basics. So when you see something going down that violates your—or anyone else's—rights, you can (and should) take action. Not sure where to start? Read on for tips and to find out how students organized the walkouts.

1. Know what you want
To stage a protest or campaign against disrespect, you've got to get clear on a few things:
* What's going down that you don't like?
* Why is it wrong?
* Why should people care?
* What needs to change?
* What's your solution to the problem?

2. Get organized
When you want to start a campaign for social change, you have to find like-minded people to join your fight. So you have to get the word out. For instance, according to the San Jose Mercury News, the student protesters said they learned of the walkouts through posters, word of mouth, text messages and MySpace.com.

Here are some campaign ideas you can try. Or see RESPECT Chapter 12 to learn more about how to organize others, hold meetings and come up with an action plan to spread respect.

3. Use the media
The more people behind your campaign, the better your chances of being heard. That's why the student walkouts are getting so much attention. They drummed up thousands of people to walk out *and* they got the media to cover their protests. In this case, organizers (who include tons of adults), reached out to students for weeks through Spanish-language radio and TV shows. They used the media to help spread the word to students across the country about when and how to walk out.

To contact the media, for starters write a press release. Once you get reporters to cover your campaign, keep them posted on new developments and pick a spokesperson who is passionate but who can also get your point across quickly (i.e. what's wrong, what needs to change and why it matters).

Remember, respect is your birthright but you have to claim it. Speak up and stand out just like thousands of students are doing right now!

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Comments (0) | by Courtney on March 29

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