High School Senior Suspended For Not Participating In Political Stunt

Ohio high school senior who refused to participate in anti-gun walkout protest is SUSPENDED after sitting alone in classroom

• Senior Jacob Shoemaker opted out of Wednesday’s national walkout and also refused to join the group of students that stayed behind
• He instead isolated himself to be apolitical in the gun violence protest
• Shoemaker instead stayed alone in a classroom on his own at Hilliard Davidson High School, which earned him a one day out-of-school suspension 
• The reason for it was that he ‘refused to follow to instructions’
• The school district said it’s responsible for students’ safety and they can’t be left unsupervised  

By Associated Press and Marlene Lenthang For Dailymail.com

An Ohio high school student was suspended after he decided to stay in school while his peers joined a national walkout protest against gun violence on Wednesday.

Jacob Shoemaker, a senior at Hilliard Davidson High School, decided to stay in his classroom as a form of nonpolitical protest and to avoid being grouped in with those who opted to walk out or stay in.

As a result, the senior was given a one-day out-of-school suspension.

The reason says ‘Student refused to follow instructions’.

The school district says it’s responsible for students’ safety and they can’t be unsupervised as the reasoning for the punishment.

‘I can only confirm that no student was suspended for not walking out, nor were any suspended for walking out,’ spokesperson Stacie Raterman of Hilliard City Schools said.

The suspension slip has gone viral, bringing attention to how the student was kicked out of the school for a day for refusing to join either group.

‘I really didn’t have a choice here,’ Jacob said to ABC6.

‘If you walked out you were with the protest, you were for gun control and anti-gun violence. And if you sat in this pit with all these other people you were pro gun-violence,’ he said.

He said by sitting in his classroom alone he chose a neutral option.

‘It’s the least political protest that exists and the thing that I was protesting in politics in the classroom. I feel that it has no place. In a school, in a district, anywhere,’ he said.

The viral slip included the phone number of father Scott Shoemaker and led to a wave of anonymous phone calls.

 

Scott said he received a myriad of angry comments, with many callers thinking his son was suspended for walking out.

The father said he had even received a couple death threats.

He took to Facebook to clear the air.

‘Thought I was going to have a normal day yesterday until my son’s story (and my old phone number) went viral and media outlets from all over the country started contacting me,’ Scott wrote online.

‘Jacob felt he was forced to make a political decision at school, but refrained. This was not the first time we have had problems with politics in the classroom as many of you are well aware.

‘Proud of my son for sticking to his guns and avoiding politics in the school, although the school and the school district were less than thrilled with his decision and probably the unwanted attention that they are getting for the harsh decision that they made,’ he said.

Jacob will return to school tomorrow.