YOUNG ACTIVISTS: AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THE AGE OF PROTEST Review

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YOUNG ACTIVISTS: AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THE AGE OF PROTEST ReviewGael Graham's book, "Young Activists" is a look back at the social unrest and reform movements of the 1960s. The book specifically examines high schools in America and how they were shaped by these turbulent times. Graham also explores how students of this era actively helped further the change. The Civil Rights Movement and the protest against the Vietnam War produced effects that washed though all facets of society. High schools were no exception. As Graham says on page 197, "Some schools felt merely a ripple, and others were nearly swamped by tidal waves of activism and dissent, but few public high schools were completely untouched by the tumult of the times."
Graham proposes many ideas on why high schools became agents of change. By 1960, for example, school attendance had become mandatory for adolescents of all classes and races. Through its own laws, the government created a melting pot where the nation's young could learn and, if they chose, organize. Advice manuals for families such as those written by Dr. Benjamin Spock encouraged "permissive parenting" or greater sensitivity to children's needs and greater explanations of rules and boundaries. Children raised in this manner understood the need for rules, but expected the rules to be reasonable and not completely rigid. Many high school administrations did not share this point of view, setting up potential conflicts. Beginning in the 1950s, television competed with schools as sources of education and exposed children to national events. In regard to the Vietnam War, children did not receive the same level of pro-war propaganda as World War I or World War II, and the government did not undertake the same level of mobilization. This was due in part to keep the war out of the news headlines to avoid an escalation to a nuclear conflict. It was also due in part to Lyndon Johnson's wish to spend tax dollars on his Great Society Programs.
Racial segregation and integration are major topics of the book. Graham documents the reaction of students to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., "white flight" from integrated schools, black militancy or "Black Power," "Brown Power," and "blowouts" or student boycotts. In addition to racial issues, the book covers dress codes and the high school underground press. The impact of the courts and legislation on high schools is given proper consideration. Some of the cases Graham discusses are "Brown v. Board of Education," Title VII of the Education Act (aided bilingual education), "Crossen v. Fatsi" (a ruling against dress codes), "Tinker v. Des Moines (an ambivalent ruling on black arm bands being worn in the schools), and "Goss v. Lopez" (established minimum rights for a student facing long term suspension).
The role of adults in these new settings is documented with excellent insight and detail. Graham divides the adults into the "hawks and doves" category commonly used to classify those who were for or against the Vietnam War. Hawks were hard-line in maintaining the status quo, saw student complaints as an inappropriate attack on authority, and preferred using institutional power to maintain order. Hawks most often included those who supervised the school systems- principals, superintendents, and members of the school board. Doves were more open to student grievances and were in favor of affording students a greater role in decisions affecting their education. They typically included those not directly involved with the school administration, especially members of the popular main stream press, writers for education journals, and academics. The role of the parent in high school student activism is discussed, as is the involvement of college and adult activist organizations such as Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Student Mobilization Committee (SMC).
"Young Activists" is a worthy examination of the results of age segregation in public high schools during an age of fascinating and rapid social change. Gael Graham helps demonstrate how thoroughly dissident ideals and practices permeated American society. Moreover, she shows how high school unrest shook adults just as much as other movements of the 1960s. While Graham allows that the high school movements can be said to have a tag-along quality to the college and adult movements, the most interesting quote of the book and the one that puts the unrest in the best light comes on page 134 from pollster Louis Harris in "Life" magazine: "students are willing to be taught, but not to be told. They are willing to abide by rules, but they will not abide by rules which put them down. They are aware of the need for authority, but not impressed by it for its own sake. They are excited by the prospect of living in a fast-changing modern society and they want their high school education to help prepare them for it- not for some society of the past." Graham goes further to say these students attempted to bring about change through their activism, rather than passively and subordinately waiting for adults to do it for them.
Graham concedes that many of the efforts of high school students in the 1960s were ephemeral, and that the contemporary generation is not as radical as the youth of that unprecedented decade. She makes one more interesting point, however, in saying that all that may be lacking is a catalyst. Reinstitution of the military draft might be the only impetus needed.
This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in the 1960s and the history of school systems. It is an important contribution to the story of activism and reform of this era.YOUNG ACTIVISTS: AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THE AGE OF PROTEST Overview
The traumas and controversies of the 1960s—the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and the pervasive antiauthoritarian spirit so evident on college campuses—infiltrated American public high schools. Students challenging their relegation to the world of children demanded the right to express their political views and to have a voice in decisions about their education. Adopting the activist tactics of the times, they organized strikes and demonstrations, initiated petitions and boycotts, and sought recourse through lawsuits and occasional violence. As racial tensions flared across the country, high schools became a crucial arena for the civil rights movement. Drawing upon the memories of students and teachers as well as education journals, court cases, and news magazines, Young Activists provides an insider's look at desegregation in all regions of the country, with a candid discussion of Black and Brown Power militancy and the reaction of white students. Debates about the war in Vietnam also rattled the high schools as young men and women—potential draftees and their colleagues—clashed over their judgments of American policy. In addition to these large social issues, student activists had their own specific agendas: relaxing dress codes, taking part in school governance, and initiating changes to the curriculum. School authorities responded, warily but often positively. By the time activism waned in the mid-1970s, students had succeeded in making their high schools more open, more democratic, and more in tune with the times. Graham demonstrates that, although teenagers were indisputably influenced by the events reshaping the wider world, they were neither pawns nor mere mimics of their elders. Rather, they drew upon the rhetoric and strategies available to them in the 1960s to promote their own interests.


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