Hundreds of military children who are students at Defense Department schools across the globe walked out of class Thursday to protest book bans, curriculum changes and restrictions on extracurricular activities that have resulted from the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity.
The walkouts, which included about a dozen schools on U.S. military bases in Europe, Asia and at least one stateside, represent the biggest collective action military children have taken since the start of the Trump administration to demand a voice in their own education after similar, smaller-scale walkouts in February and March.
And the protests happened despite a warning from defense officials and school principals that participating in widespread school walkouts could mean unexcused absences, detention and restrictions on sports participation.
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“The message that we’re trying to send is pretty much that we’re here and we’re going to fight for what we believe in, especially when it comes to our education and whatnot, because our education is the basis of our future,” Payton, a 10th grader at Lakenheath High School in England who helped organize the walkouts, told Military.com in a phone interview.
“Our parents are actively fighting for our country for us to be able to have these rights,” added Payton, who asked to be identified only by his first name out of fear of retaliation.
Payton said he was aware of at least 503 students at 10 schools in Europe, Asia and Virginia who participated in the walkouts. Students at four more schools were expected to participate as well, but he had not gotten a report from them as of Thursday afternoon.
Thursday’s walkouts were scheduled for a large number of schools, according to an Instagram post from the DoDEA walkout account, ranging from classrooms in Guam and Japan, to Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.
Students held signs that read “Hands Off Our Library”, “Academic Freedom = American Freedom” and “Unity In Diversity,” according to photos shared on the Instagram page.
The students were protesting President Donald Trump’s executive orders that have resulted in Department of Defense Education Activity schools removing books from their libraries and altering curricula related to minorities, women and LGBTQ+ people. For example, parts of the Advanced Placement psychology class that deal with sexuality and gender can no longer be taught, putting DoDEA students at a disadvantage for passing the course’s year-end nationwide test.
Military.com published an in-depth report on stressors that parents, students and families overseas have been experiencing with the flurry of executive orders that have put their quality of life in limbo, ranging from child care access and job security to even after-school sports programs and extracurricular activities being cut.
Celebrations and activities related to identities, such as Black History Month, have also been cut, as have student clubs that focus on gender or cultural affiliation.
Students in Stuttgart, Germany, protested the bans in February — the same day Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the base. More protests and walkouts at several bases also happened in March.
Those earlier protests happened without incident.
Ahead of Thursday’s walkouts, notices sent to parents and students warned of consequences this time.
The letters sent to students and parents from DoDEA schools overseas, three of which were reviewed by Military.com, warned about potential punishments for those who miss class to participate in the walkouts. The correspondence of all three notices shared almost identical language.
“I am writing to inform you that we will enforce our school system’s attendance policy,” one letter read. “Students who choose to participate in walkouts during the school day will receive an unexcused absence for classes they do not attend.”
In addition to the warning in the letter, Payton said that, at his school, student athletes who are scheduled to compete in a track meet Friday were told they would not be allowed to participate in the meet if they joined the walkout.
One overseas parent of a DoDEA student, who spoke to Military.com on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said that she was aware of some schools not participating in the walkouts seemingly due to fears of repercussions.
“I was disappointed that some of the schools are backing out and, if it’s for fear of them being punished, I think that’s disheartening,” the parent said.
William Griffin, a DoDEA spokesperson, told Military.com that “DoDEA does not support or endorse student walkouts.”
He did not have a number on how many schools were involved in the walkouts. He did reiterate that the school system’s attendance policies have not changed, adding that “while student-led walkouts in the past have concluded without serious incidents, the cumulative disruption to the DoDEA school system negatively impacted classroom instruction and pulled resources away from normal school operations to ensure student safety.”
Despite the pushback from school administrators and Pentagon officials, the walkouts got support from some parents.
“As a PTSA, we are very proud of our students for expressing themselves, using their right to protest, and doing it so respectfully,” Kristen Smith, vice president of legislation at the European Parent Teacher Student Association and a military spouse in Germany, told Military.com in an email.
“As a parent, I’m very impressed,” Smith added. “Most parents are saying ‘there is no way this is student-led’ because they are so organized, kind and respectful. But knowing some of these high schoolers, I believe they are very capable of doing something this incredible. I’m proud that this is what our future leaders look like.”
And while consequences were threatened, Payton said it was unclear whether school administrators followed through or if it was an empty threat. Nobody told him he was being marked truant when he walked out, and he did not spot any administrators taking down names of those participating.
“That’s something I’m going to be worried about tomorrow morning,” he said.
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