Students from the Oakdale USD in California began a protest on Wednesday, February 4 after they watched the NFC Championship Game between The Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49'ers. The game was held at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. This will also be the site of the NFL Superbowl this year. Government Officials are already starting to waive Covid restrictions for the "Big Game" but as we've seen countless times, the same Officials who push these mandates rarely follow them unless it is for a televised speech or photo op.
Oakdale High School students who watched the game over the weekend saw the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom not wearing a mask multiple times. This is especially hypocritical coming from the California Governor as he has pushed mandates and lockdowns more than almost anyone. No one who has followed the power-grabbing politicians is surprised by this. The photo that went viral was Newsom and Basketball Legend Magic Johnson posing for a picture during the Championship Game (see above). After being called out, Newsom would claim that he only had it off for a second and did it to be "gracious" to Johnson. However, there were multiple photos of Newsom at the game unmasked.
The hypocrisy was not lost on the Oakdale students and on Wednesday, almost 400 students refused to wear their masks at school in protest. This was followed up again on Thursday, February 3 when about 350 students refused to wear masks. Nolan Harris, an Oakdale HS Freshman summed up the protest, saying "if they don't follow their own rules that they are trying to force upon me, why should I follow them?"
The Oakdale High School staff had a plan by Thursday as they started separating students by placing them in School's gym. According to Harris, there were at least 100 students there by the end of the day. Not only were the punished kids being put in the gym all day and not learning, Staff reportedly barricaded them in, using school lunch tables. According to one student, a staff member was caught turning down the thermostat for the gym in an effort to "freeze them out" and only turned it back up when police were called in. According to a school officer who did a welfare check, it wasn't that cold and was not a police matter. Regardless of the temperature of the gym, locking up to a hundred students in the gym with no masks is not a solution to anything. If those many students were not going to have a mask on they could have been in class, learning. However, this has nothing to do with what is logical or even necessary. This was punishment because these kids refused to bend the knee to tyranny.
The kids were not deterred by the cruel punishment and as soon as they were let out they began to march to the Oakdale USD Headquarters in protest, cheering and chanting "Let's Go Oakdale" as they walked. The students were heading to the District Headquarters to demand action. Oakdale Joint Unified Superintendent Dave Kline told the Modesto Bee that on Wednesday, 375 students protested and 344 would not wear their masks on Thursday.
Parents quickly joined in on the act, taking to the sidewalks to protest the mask mandate and the treatment of their children. One mother, Melissa Goodman, told CBS that she supported students' right to protest peacefully adding "They don't want to get in trouble, they don't want to disrespect their teachers...But they also want their right to share their smiles and breath freely."
With momentum for the protests building as students and parents were taking a stand, the school district has increased their tyrannical behavior, as Superintendent Dave Kline wrote a letter to all students telling them that "Starting on Monday, February 7, 2022, Oakdale Joint Unified School District is asking that all students attend their regular classes wearing masks, as required by the California Department of Public Health which has mandated universal masking in our schools. Remaining unmasked is not an option at this time. Students who refuse to mask will not be allowed in classrooms and will be referred up to the office. Starting this week at both the junior high and the high school, no alternative settings will be provided and no work will be given to those who continue to protest. At the elementary levels, alternative settings will possibly continue for this week and work will still be provided, but this is a temporary measure. If this accommodation becomes unsustainable this week for any reason, we will inform parents immediately. Students who wish to protest the mask mandate are asked to enroll in our District's Independent Study Program, and we also suggest that further protests are directed to Sacramento."
The cowardly Superintendent went on to write "When OJUSD originally heard of last week's impending protest, we were led to believe that it would be civil, safe, and peaceful. This has not been the case. The protests this week have resulted in a marked increase in disrespectful, unruly behavior and in an increase in aggressive and violent threats toward students, staff, and board members. On Friday, a father directly threatened both male and female staff members with such fury that we are working with Oakdale Police regarding this matter. Students are being regularly bullied for wearing masks by both fellow students and others. People have made it clear over social media, email, and in-person that their verbal threats will become physical if they don't get their way. We are in the process of considering postponing our regularly scheduled board meeting set for February 7, 2022, because of threats of physical violence. This is not acceptable. Bullying from students or adults will not be tolerated. In addition, we'd like to remind all adults that parents are not allowed on campus at any time." This came with no examples and is most likely just their typical playbook. When the left wishes to shut down a protest they make claims that it is not safe, that there has been violence, or threats of violence, and they have to shut it down for the "safety of everyone". The idea that students are being bullied for wearing masks is comical as the only evidence of bullying was barricading and trying to freeze students in a gym who refused to wear them. It is also very much in their playbook to try and prevent parents from coming to school board meetings and claiming "the threat of violence" is a valid reason.
The letter to parents went on to try and threaten them into forcing their children to adhere to their mandates and push for control as it stated "Any person who violates any of the provisions of this chapter or who refuses or willfully neglects to obey any lawful order or regulation promulgated or issued as provided in this chapter [in this case a Governor's Order and statewide health mandates], shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punishable by a fine of not to exceed one thousand dollars (or $1000) or by imprisonment for not to exceed six months or by both such fine and imprisonment."
Superintendent Dave Kline would end the letter by saying "We have thousands of students who want to be in class and learning at the high level our community expects. We cannot allow the action of a small cadre of people to impede the learning of these many students and the work of the entire district." This probably sounds familiar as it is another tactic of those seeking to control the masses to label any resistance as a small or insignificant group because they don't want other people to wake up and join. They just tried this with the Canadian Freedom Truckers protest. It rarely works and I doubt it will in this case, either.
Written by guest writer Chris Turner Sources: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10478147/Maskless-kids-BARRICADED-California-school-staff-tried-freeze-out.html https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/02/california-high-school-barricades-maskless-children-gym-staffer-turns-thermostat-freeze/
https://www.wseetonline.com/rs/2022/02/05/maskless-kids-were-barricaded-in-a-california-school-by-staff-who-tried-to-freeze-them-out/ https://thepostmillennial.com/watch-teachers-lock-out-california-students-after-they-stage-mask-revolt
https://rumble.com/vu2awt-california-students-stage-a-revolt-against-mask-mandates.html https://ojusd-ca.schoolloop.com/file/1500178971524/1365835800006/4175706525339091852.pdf