The Five Towns School District superintendent is outraged that a recording showing Camden Hills High School students publicly protesting while carrying signs with profanity and anti-ICE messages ended up on social media.
“Unbeknownst to school administrators, two parents were parked near the campus entrance, filmed the student protest, and shared it publicly, including disparaging commentary. It inevitably spread on social networks. Much of the ensuing social media fall-out is targeted at our students and school which understandably resulted in many parents across the political spectrum being concerned about their children’s safety,” said Superintendent Maria Libby in an email to parents.
Students from Camden Hills Regional High School staged an anti-ICE walkout on January 30, and a video of the event went viral on social media after a concerned parent recorded the protest and posted it online.
The video shows what appears to be a significant number of students carrying homemade anti-ICE signs. A student marching at the front of the column can be seen holding a handmade sign that reads, “Fuck ICE.”
According to a parent who spoke with The Maine Wire, teachers were present and marched with students during the protest.
Superintendent Libby claimed in her email that the school was unaware how many students planned to join the protest.
When staff became aware of the protest, they reportedly met with students and informed them of the “expectation that they be respectful and peaceful during their protest.”
According to the email, the school removed signage that didn’t meet that requirement partway through the protest, though that didn’t stop students from parading on camera with their “Fuck ICE” signs.
Libby was displeased that parents shared the video and called out their “disparaging commentary,” which notably included no personal attacks on students and was limited to describing the event as “absurd” and “Marxist.”
“This incident has underscored how the decision of one or two people can have a disproportionate negative impact, likely some of it unintended. This incident is also a reminder of what happens once a video or image is released to the world. The online community has a way of spreading information like wildfire. The more inflammatory, the faster it spreads,” said Libby.
While Libby was unhappy that parents recorded the event and that it drew negative online attention, it appears that the goal of the event was to make a public statement.
She said that, going forward, parents would be notified of student protests as soon as the school administration becomes aware of them.
The school is considering additional security measures that would control who accesses the campus during events. It is unclear whether these security measures would ban concerned parents from the area to prevent them from recording similar political activism going forward.
“We are all in this together to create the kind of world we want to live in. We urge everyone to think before they act, consider the ripple effect of those actions, and tap into our shared humanity. We have far more in common than what divides us. Let us be a community that shows mutual respect to lift us all up,” said the superintendent.
Libby serves as the superintendent for the entire Five Towns School District, which includes Appleton, Camden, Hope, Lincolnville, and Rockport.
