Plans for a school walkout on Friday spread like wildfire for hundreds of Redlands students. The demonstration, which involved 450 students from five Redlands middle and high schools, protested Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, student organizers said. After weeks of planning, students left class midday and marched, chanted and waved signs for over an hour on the way downtown. Their message, as cars drove by honking, was loud and clear: “ICE out.” “We are skipping our lessons to teach you one,” said Quinn Shea, an eighth grader at Cope Middle School who spoke at Friday’s rally. “I’m fighting for those who can’t fight for themselves. When parents and adults don’t do anything, we have to go out of our way to do something that parents are supposed to do.” The walkout was part of a growing movement — locally and nationally — among youths who are protesting immigration enforcement and President Donald Trump’s mass deportation initiative. The social media-fueled rise in youth activism is hardly new. For example, over the past few years in Southern California and beyond, students have demonstrated over the Israel-Gaza war. About 100 students from Temescal Canyon High School protest against immigration enforcement along Central Avenue in Lake Elsinore on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (File photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) About 100 students from Temescal Canyon High School protest against immigration enforcement on Central Avenue in Lake Elsinore on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (File photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Students at Riverside’s North High School join a Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, protest at the Riverside Historic Courthouse against immigration enforcement. (File photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Students at Riverside’s Poly High School, Faye Gaston, left, 15, and Aiden Murcray, center, 18, protest immigration enforcement Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, across the street from the school after walking out of class. (File photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG) Students at Riverside’s Poly High School march Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, across Central Avenue after walking out of classes as they protest immigration enforcement across the country. (File photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG) Students at Riverside’s Poly High School march across Central Avenue on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026 after walking out of classes in a protest of immigration enforcement. (File photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG) About 100 students from Temescal Canyon High School protest against U.S. immigration policy on Central Avenue in Lake Elsinore on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (File photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Show Caption1 of 7About 100 students from Temescal Canyon High School protest against immigration enforcement along Central Avenue in Lake Elsinore on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (File photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Expand The latest round of Inland Empire walkouts has raised a question: How do schools balance students’ right to freedom of speech with keeping them safe during the school day? Inland school officials said it’s a difficult task. And during the recent walkouts, at least one traffic accident occurred. But some say it’s possible to balance both issues, as evidenced by cases of students working with their administrators and others on protest safety plans. Leaving campus for any reason — without parents’ permission or for an excused absence — isn’t allowed, some school officials said. Others point out that once students leave campus for a non-school activity, they’re no longer under a school’s direct supervision. Some districts let students express themselves in campus forums or demonstrations, as long as learning isn’t disrupted. Dale Kinnear, a retired Riverside high school principal who’s now on the Riverside school board, has wrestled with the issue in both roles. “I was a principal for a long time, I had my fair share of student walkouts. … They were not easy for me as a principal, and student safety is a concern,” Kinnear said at a Thursday board meeting. “It is very, very troublesome to me.” In Redlands, students worked to ensure safety as they expressed their viewpoints. Jax Hardy, a 17-year-old Redlands High School senior who helped organize Friday’s protest, said students were supported by adult volunteers — wearing bright pink vests — looking out for their safety. “There’s obviously going to people disregarding students as a whole, saying we’re inexperienced, unorganized, and it’s obviously not true. … And even if students aren’t aware, we’re trying to make them aware, and turn them into being more political activists.” The law has students’ backs on this point. “The First Amendment applies to everyone, youth and otherwise,” David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition, said Friday. But the Constitution “does not guarantee the right to leave campus to conduct a protest.” State law offers a loophole for students. California Education Code allows a middle school or high school student to have an excused absence once a year when “engaging in a civic or political event.” But there’s a catch: The pupil must notify the school ahead of time about the absence and not spontaneously leave campus for a protest. Friday’s Redlands walkouts were not “not sponsored, organized, or supervised” by schools or the district, Redlands Unified spokesperson Christine Stephens wrote in an email. “If students leave campus without permission, attendance policies apply and students are marked absent from class in accordance with standard procedures,” she wrote. Students aren’t disciplined for their viewpoints and missed class time is considered an unexcused absence, she said. The Redlands Police Department and Redlands Unified safety officers monitored the protest, according to attendees. Student-led walkouts have taken place beyond Redlands and across the Inland Empire, including Riverside, Lake Elsinore, Eastvale, Rialto and Fontana. Some student organizers, such as those at Rialto’s Eisenhower High School, took safety into consideration. Eisenhower seniors Sophia Vasquez and Laila Woods, both 17, helped coordinate a Jan. 30 walkout as part of the “national shutdown” boycotting school and work. They worked with school officials to make sure their protest and message was visible, with safety as a priority. After the rally, Rialto students were bused back to classes and allowed to continue demonstrating in the campus theater. “It wasn’t that the school didn’t want us to use our voice; it’s just safety, and I understand that,” Vasquez, 17, said. “They’re putting their job at risk, too. It’s school hours, so they’re in charge of us kids. But I’m proud that we as students took the opportunity to use our voice … we know what we stand for.” Woods agreed that school administrators “cared enough to keep us safe,” but were “willing to let us go through with it.” Eisenhower High School seniors Sophia Vasquez, left, and Laila Woods, right, both 17, are seen Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in front of the Rialto school. The pair organized a recent student walkout to protest federal immigration policy. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG) Eisenhower High School seniors Sophia Vasquez, left, and Laila Woods, right, both 17, are seen Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in front of the Rialto school. The pair organized a recent student walkout to protest federal immigration policy. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG) Eisenhower High School seniors Laila Woods, left, and Sophia Vasquez, right, both 17, are seen Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in front of the Rialto campus. They organized a recent student walkout to protest immigration enforcement. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG) Eisenhower High School seniors Sophia Vasquez, left, and Laila Woods, right, both 17, sit Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in front of their Rialto school. The pair organized a recent student walkout to protest immigration enforcement. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG) Show Caption1 of 4Eisenhower High School seniors Sophia Vasquez, left, and Laila Woods, right, both 17, are seen Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in front of the Rialto school. The pair organized a recent student walkout to protest federal immigration policy. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG) Expand Many Inland districts approached the walkouts in similar ways. When on Feb. 4, hundreds of students left classes at Temescal Canyon High School and Canyon Lake Middle School in Lake Elsinore, Lake Elsinore Unified School District officials reiterated that students were not allowed to leave without written parental permission. But those who did were monitored by school officials working with police. “The district recognizes that students may have strong feelings about issues beyond school campuses; however, during the school day, students are expected to remain on campus, participate in instruction, and work toward academic goals,” a statement reads. Those who violate the rule could face consequences and could be marked for an unexcused absence or truant. The Corona-Norco Unified School District took a similar stance. “The safest place for students during the school day is on campus, in the classroom,” according to a statement, which added that the district is “committed to balancing students’ First Amendment rights with our responsibility to maintain a safe learning environment.” Those free speech rights can be vitally important to students. Social media accounts showed hundreds of students walked out of Corona-Norco’s Roosevelt High School in Eastvale on Feb. 6. “I am the daughter of immigrants,” 18-year-old Roosevelt High senior Jacqui Tarui said. “Seeing everything happen around this country, it was frustrating to sit on my hands waiting for something to happen or for something to do something.” Tarui and others said administrators were cooperative and supportive, especially when a shooting threat before the planned protest was deemed “non-credible,” according to a community letter from Roosevelt High Principal Jennifer Montgomery. Jason Guo, a Roosevelt High School student who emigrated from China in 2019, said he was encouraged by a teacher to attend and photograph the Eastvale walkout, his first protest. Seeing students raising their country flags and signs protesting ICE made him feel “proud” to be an American. “In China, they would not allow this,” the 17-year-old said. “You would be punished or go to jail. My old classmates don’t understand why I’m doing this, but here, I feel very safe to do this.” Seeing classmates protest, for him, was like “finally having my own voice to speak out. For me, it’s my duty, as a U.S. citizen: to speak for those who cannot.” But leaving campus during the school day can be dangerous. On Feb. 6, a 15-year-old student at Heritage High School in Menifee struck and injured a motorcyclist. The student, an unlicensed driver, made a U-turn while trying to find parking during a 200-student school walkout and struck the motorcyclist, police said. The motorcyclist reported minor pain but was not taken to a hospital. The collision was unintentional, a Menifee Police Department news release states. Police knew of the planned protest and coordinated with the Perris Union School District to look out for students’ safety. Before the walkout, the district offered a “designated space on its campus where students can safely exercise their First Amendment rights and will continue to offer these spaces,” Esmeralda Chalfant, the district’s director of pupil services, wrote in an email. Some Inland parents, though, felt schools were not doing enough to protect children or, in some cases, threatening student protesters. Riverside mother Joanna Jones was alarmed to receive a notice about students, including her son, leaving campus to protest. “When you leave kids at school, they’re supposed to be safe at that school,” Jones said. “People try to make this about politics, but the bigger issue is safety,” Jones said. “People get hot and heavy about school shootings, but it’s OK that kids want to leave campus? What about daytime loitering laws? Why isn’t any of this being enforced?” Riverside Unified School District employee Daniel Calderon speaks to the Riverside school board during a Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, meeting at the Riverside Adult School. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Superintendent Sonia Llamas, left, listens as Abigail Jones speaks during a Riverside Unified School District board meeting at the Riverside Adult School on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Parent Deanna Smith speaks about keeping immigration officers out of Riverside Unified School District campuses during the Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, school board meeting at the Riverside Adult School. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) A speaker addresses the Riverside Unified School District board during a Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, meeting at the Riverside Adult School. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Ramona High School student Jaito Navarro speaks to the Riverside Unified School District board during a Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, meeting at the Riverside Adult School. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Show Caption1 of 5Riverside Unified School District employee Daniel Calderon speaks to the Riverside school board during a Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, meeting at the Riverside Adult School. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Expand Jones and others expressed concerns at the Thursday Riverside school board meeting. Some Riverside parents alleged retaliation against students, especially after a Feb. 2 incident in which a group of about six Sierra Middle School students left campus to protest. A viral social media video shows Principal Renell Robinson reprimanding students, saying there are “consequences” to their actions, and taking photos of them as they were directed back to campus. In a Feb. 5 statement, the district said the interaction, viewed without the full context, “creates the impression that students are being discouraged from exercising their free speech rights … (but) the intention is the opposite.” Students were going toward a street with heavy traffic and the school could not ensure their protection, the statement said. Students’ photos were taken “to identify them in the event they did not return to campus,” so families could be notified, not as a disciplinary or surveillance action, according to the statement. Parent Vanessa Valenzuela called on the Riverside school board to prohibit retaliation against students exercising their rights. And Riverside teacher Daniel Calderon, said any targeting of students for speaking out was “suppressing future leaders and stifling growth.” Riverside Superintendent Sonia Llamas said it’s OK for students to protest, as it is “their constitutional right, and it speaks to the growing civic awareness of our students.” She emphasized that the district is increasing “guidance, staff training and communication clarity” on civic engagement and that district leaders have met with a local group that works with students and immigrant youths. As the nation’s immigration crackdown continues, schools’ balancing act likely will too. Board member Brent Lee said it was the district’s job to keep students safe and that would be hard to do if students were leaving campus. “It doesn’t mean we will stop them or punish kids for freedom of speech,” Lee said, “But there are consequences when you do that.” ...read more read less