Hello, Marysville - Middle School students protest lax rules

Marysville, Washington, schools need adult supervision. The students are demanding some discipline.

HeraldNet: Totem Middle School students protest lax rules:

MARYSVILLE -- The tension built.

For a week, Totem Middle School students met after class in the library, posted messages on MySpace and whispered conversations in the hall. They made signs, painted T-shirts and circulated petitions.

When the clock hit 10:40 a.m. Wednesday, they were ready.

They walked out.

Around 200 students risked suspension and broke school rules to demand more discipline.

Claiming they're sometimes afraid to go to class, they asked administrators to dole out tougher and more equitable punishments for things such as fighting, bringing alcohol to school and smoking marijuana.

"The students that have been committing these offenses have been doing them multiple times and the most they get is a two- or three-day suspension," said eighth-grader Farrah Wolgamott, who helped organized the protest. "We don't really feel safe because they don't get expelled. We think people are going to bring it to the next level and bring guns and knives to school."

Gail Miller, assistant superintendent of the Marysville School District, said she can't remember another time when students asked for more discipline.