Several students at Eastern Regional High School in Camden County were suspended late last week after a walkout to protest Israeli attacks on Palestinians in Gaza was canceled by school administrators.
The students are now accusing leadership of trying to censor them, but district officials defended the action telling NJ Spotlight News that the event was canceled out of safety concerns.
“After the walkout was canceled, we received an email, and I went to the office with a couple of my peers,” said Ash Tavares, a junior at the school. “And all we wanted was to talk to the principal, and he tried to intimidate us out of the room, trying to threaten to write us up, and suspension. And he was really dismissing us, he wouldn’t talk to us. And we were just trying to schedule a meeting to have communication. And I got suspended because I wouldn’t leave the room without a meeting scheduled. And they called it insubordination.”
