Fourth graders have an uncanny sense of justice. As a former nanny, I’ve witnessed nine-year-olds stand up for their rights countless times. (Sometimes they’re standing up for the right to watch a highly inappropriate PG-13 movie at 9:30 p.m. when they should be in bed; still, they’re standing up for something.) Case in point: a gaggle of California fourth graders launched a protest last week after their school district announced it would no longer offer chocolate milk in schools.
As reported by ABC 7 Los Angeles, the protest was organized by a fourth grade class at the Sierra Vista K-8 school outside of Sacramento, California. The school district announced it would remove chocolate milk from the lunch menu due to its high sugar content, and students were rightfully irate. Chocolate milk is the best.
On the heels of the announcement, one fourth grade teacher decided to channel her students’ ire into collective action. The teacher rallied her students, encouraging them to craft their very own protest signs to display during a protest march around the school. ABC 7 reports that the students were instructed to form arguments for chocolate milk’s return before embarking on their march. “We’re looking for the information to support our opinion,” you can hear the teacher say in a news clip from Sacramento news station KQCA.
After crafting their signs, the fourth graders headed out for a (very adorable) protest march outside of the school. Footage from an ABC 7 Instagram post shows the students strutting around with their handwritten signs, chanting, “What do we want? Chocolate milk! When do we want it? Now!’’
Proof that civic action works: A district official says chocolate milk will now return for one day every other week. It’s not much, but it’s something. Regardless, like I always say, if you want to raise a civically engaged generation, start ’em early.
Stick it to the Man, kids.