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.
Jacob Shoemaker, above, a Hilliard Davidson High School senior was suspended after he refused to join the students in Wednesday’s walkout as well as the students that stayed behind
Instead, he remained alone in his classroom to be non-political in the protest against gun violence, earning him a one-day suspension slip (above) for ‘refusing to follow instructions’
The reason says ‘Student refused to follow instructions’.
‘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.
The slip went viral, bringing Jacob and father Scott Shoemaker, above, into the spotlight. Scott said he received angry phone calls in light of the suspension
Many students at the Hilliard High (above) walked out as a part of the national protest that saw students across the country walkout
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.
Wednesday’s protest saw thousands of students leave school to protest gun violence and remember the lives lost in the Parkland, Florida, protest in Dayton, Ohio pictured above
A moment of silence was shared between protesters in Dayton, Ohio, to remember the 17 that died in Parkland, Florida
Students in the protest held up signs that said ‘Join the alliance, end gun violence’ pictured in Cincinnati, Ohio on Wednesday
Hugs were exchanged at Stivers School for the Arts in Dayton, Ohio on Wednesday during the national walkout, with similar protests taking place across the nation
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