Tag Archives: protest

Students! Don’t lose your head in all the protest hype

More protests and demonstrations are planned for later this month, which is great.

You may be involved in the planning of something along those lines. Perhaps you’ve even seen this facebook event, that recommends students to ‘walk out of  your school, college or university’ in protest to education cuts. Earlier this week, about 40 Manchester students occupied a university building, demanding to see evidence of accounts that would hopefully detail how cuts would affect them.

Interesting approaches, but before you decide to storm out of your lecture half way through, ask yourself- are the people you’re protesting against really the enemy ?

I hate to paraphrase Cameron, but we really are ‘all in this together’. Students, lecturers, university staff- all of us will be hit badly by HE cuts. Walking out of a lecture will only disrupt a lesson and annoy both your lecturers and  university, neither of whom have any control over higher fees or impending cuts. Manchester students, you probably could have aquired those documents by just asking nicely rather than causing a ruckus. I’d bet any money that Manchester’s finance office don’t want those cuts any more than Manchester’s students do. What’s the point of splitting the cause and targeting people who don’t deserve to be pinpointed? If we’re campaigning for the right to education, what’s the point of walking out of it?

Usually, an employee strike is effective because employees find themselves at a deadlock with an employer  who makes unfair demands. The employer is the enemy. We could strike and walk out of our lectures and lessons, but our lecturers, teachers and universities aren’t the enemy here. They’re facing cuts and difficulties too. Unfortunately, we all are. With these well-intentioned but ultimately blind walkout plans, we’re at risk of losing the message all together.

There’s other ways to handle the 24th. Keep campaigning. Think creatively.

Apologies if No Comment is quickly turning into a HE blog. This is something I feel pretty passionate about. Sooner or later, I’ll resume normal service :)

So- what exactly happened at #Demo2010?

I couldn’t tell you what happened at Millbank yesterday- I wasn’t there. I and other UCLan students were due to catch our coach back to Preston at 3.30pm- in fact, many students had been coached down to London as part of their student unions. None of us had time to hang around in London burning things.

But what of those who did? The condemnation of those students, teenagers and random, trouble seeking strangers who took part in the hours of vandalism and destruction has been widespread. Yes, there were some who had turned up to make trouble, but we should be wary of demonising all the students who turned up to the protest. Attempting to demolish the Conservative Party’s headquarters was too much, but unfortunately, this is a sign of the times.  The political parties who betrayed students were in need of a symbol of discontent, but this was a symbol too far.

Some factions of the mainstream media should be chastised for honing in on the violence of the protest. This kind of reporting obscures the original message of the demonstration, and blurs the very reasons why students were out on the streets. Initial coverage gave the impression that the protest began and ended at Millbank tower- failing to stress that 50,000 plus students marched peacefully.We walked, we danced, we chanted, and approved of each other’s banners and placards. Some people in the crowd formed a conga line that meandered closely to the barriers, only to be pushed aggressively back by police on the scene. This was the only incident of police brutality I witnessed at the event, and it didn’t look very fair to me. Thankfully, as the the day went on, media coverage increased in its balance.

On the morning of the 1oth, news channels were reporting that both students and lecturers planned to march on the streets of London. By 4pm, the same news outlets were reporting that student riots were in full force, with no mention of the peaceful protesters, or the lecturers who were marching beside them.   Nothing was said of the parents that marched for their children or the elderly gentleman outside Westminster who held a placard that read ‘I’m fighting for my grandson’.

The most remarkable fact about yesterday’s demonstration was that, for many who marched, the tuition fee hikes won’t even affect us (with the exception of further education students who were there). We were there to protest about the injustices of the future. Yes, students are angry. We are angry because thousands of students voted Lib Dem, and we’ve been lied to. Disillusion and unrest are spreading fast. Those of us who campaign against tuition fees need to cut the violence and keep up the momentum.

As for those Conservative bloggers who are calling NUS president Aaron Porter to step down from his position- the very idea is ridiculous and counter productive. Neither Porter or the NUS could anticipate double the predicted numbers, or the violence and protests. Vicious criticism of the demo’s organisers reads like Tory propaganda.

Yesterday’s demo was the depiction of frustration and a regrettable explosion of discontent. It’s sad that as students, some of us have had to go to a ridiculous extreme just to be heard. This is what happens when you ignore and betray the people who you were elected to represent.

It’s looking likely that nothing will change. Thanks to the violence and riots, all students have been tarnished by the actions of a few. It’s time to understand their anger.  I’m proud to have taken part in the largest student mobilisation of a generation. Yesterday was of the utmost importance- even if we’re ignored; at least we’ve demonstrated our discontent.