Spirit of Protest : ‘60s-Style Activism Emerges as Simi Youths Take Lessons to Heart

Students in Mr. Collins’ government class at Simi High School are big fans of the U.S. Constitution.

But these days, their classroom discussions often stray from the subject of the 200-year-old document. An atmosphere of debate dominates as the students gripe about shortened lunch periods, locked bathrooms and parking restrictions. Inevitably, the discourse comes back to the topic of inalienable rights.

About a week ago, the talk had turned to action. Students in the class were joined by about 250 others at Simi High to protest constraints imposed by Principal David Ellis.

Carrying picket signs and chanting “We Want Rights,” “Our School, Our Rights” and “We Are People, Too,” the students marched peacefully on the school grounds.

“We were exercising our First Amendment rights, using what they’ve taught us,” said senior Rick Lemke, protest organizer. “We realize we have certain freedoms and we should use them to the fullest.”

Simi Valley, a community that grew out of suburban sprawl at the base of the Santa Susana Mountains, hardly seems to be a place where the protesting spirit of the 1960s thrives among teen-agers, but teachers, city officials and youths say a new activism is taking hold in this city of nearly 100,000.

“When I discuss current events, there’s a much greater awareness of local and world issues,” said government teacher Rob Collins. “It reminds me of the ‘60s. Students are actually getting involved.”

In recent months, large numbers of Simi youths have not only exercised their constitutional right to speak freely, but have tangled with City Hall--and won.

It started in August when a group of teen-agers and young adults won concessions from the City Council to provide a “place to socialize” for restless youths and their mini-truck brigade. And last week, about 40 junior high and high school students marched into the council chambers to protest a proposed ban on riding skateboards on city streets.

The week before, 50 youths took a stand against the skateboard ban.

The result: Council members agreed to talk to youth leaders about designating alternate locations for skateboard riding, even though they banned skateboards on city property. City officials had been concerned that lawsuits could stem from injuries suffered on Civic Center property, which had become a popular spot for skateboarding.

Activist Trend

Fueled by their successes with the mini-truck and skateboarding issues, youths say they want to set an activist trend that can bring about permanent change on the Simi High School campus as well as on city streets.

Since school began in September, the principal had made three decisions that did not sit well with the student body. Without seeking student input, he shortened lunch periods during homecoming festivities, ordered some bathrooms locked to discourage graffiti and closed parking lots during certain hours to control vandalism.

“We don’t want to break the rules; we just want to change them,” said senior Matt Rygh.

In the government class, students had learned about nonviolent protest. Then, outside the classroom, they showed the lessons had registered.

For example, when Lemke led the march, he insisted that students end their demonstration at 8 a.m., in time to attend their first classes. “We weren’t going to let this interfere with our education,” Lemke said. “We want the education without an iron hand.”

Ellis said the protest was orderly and without incident.

“At the end, the leader told them, ‘Pick up your mess and go to class,’ ” the principal said. “So it wasn’t like there was a big fight. They wanted to be heard and I think they would agree they have been.”

The students do agree they have been heard--and say they are not about to stop.

“Before, if a rule was passed, they’d complain and moan and wouldn’t do anything about it,” said Stanley Bergstrom, also a senior. “I think the kids are starting to see from this that they can make a change.”

The high school and skateboarding protests were probably influenced by the success of the lobbying efforts of Simi mini-truckers earlier this year, said Rick McClure, the 20-year-old spokesman for the truck owners.

‘Opened Minds’

“I think we opened a lot of minds to a lot of things,” McClure said. “It seems like since we started this, a lot of other stuff is starting to come up. We fought for the mini-truck thing and we got a place. Now it’s skateboarders; pretty soon it’ll probably be bicycle riders.”

Last summer, business leaders complained to city officials that young people in mini-trucks were congregating in parking lots, blaring their radios and scaring away customers. The City Council’s youth activities subcommittee, composed of two council members and six community leaders, was summoned to study the problem.

After some debate, the subcommittee recommended that the city allow mini-truckers to congregate on Sunday nights in the parking lot of the Simi Unifed School District headquarters on Cochran Street. The council approved the recommendation.

The solution, arrived at in August, has worked well, according to city officials and business owners. It’s worked so well, in fact, that “Minis in Motion,” a mini-truckers club of 16- to 27-year-olds, will petition this week to join the Chamber of Commerce.

City officials credit the growing tide of youthful involvement with helping the community find compromise solutions.

‘Win-Win Situations’

“I think it’s really good that they come and get involved,” said Mayor Greg Stratton. “I think when we sit down and talk to them . . . we usually can find some very good middle ground to create those win-win situations.”

“Even though I may disagree with some of them, I’m very proud that they got involved and spoke out,” said Councilman Glen McAdoo.

But unlike the city fathers, some parents do not understand the protests and worry that youths are just trying to cause trouble, students said.

“My dad thinks we want to take over the school,” said senior Greg Ward. “We’re not trying to take over the school. We were protesting because we wanted a voice in what was happening around us.”

Educators are heartened by the teen-agers’ activism in civic and school issues, and see it as a sign of a growing sense of responsibility and maturity.

“I’m just very happy that the kids have seen fit to get involved,” said Ellis. “Apathy is something you’re constantly faced with, but you just don’t find it here. It seems like a revitalized, new vigor among students.”

“We’ve had a real change in the attitude of young people in this community,” said Collins. “I think this is starting to be a trend.”

Not everyone is happy with the youths’ heightened political awareness, however.

The skateboarders may have been too strident in their approach at the last two City Council meetings, said Andy Macek, owner of a Simi Valley tool shop and member of the youth activities subcommittee, which is working on a solution to the skateboarding problem.

Macek said council members may have been angered by one boy who said if he couldn’t ride his skateboard, he would turn to drugs. “They came across wrong, kind of like they were threatening, and you just can’t threaten the City Council,” Macek said.

Some youthful protesters say they are uncertain if their new-found clout will have the desired effect on the city fathers who will ultimately decide the skateboarding issue before the year is out.

Bergstrom, a Simi High School student who spoke out against the skateboarding ban, said he didn’t know whether their efforts would prove as effective as those of the mini-truck brigade.

“You can tell the council has sort of a set mind about it,” Bergstrom said.

On campus, however, the students are buoyed by the progress they feel they have made toward communicating their wishes to the administration.

After the picketing last week, a group of students formed an ad-hoc committee and plan to meet regularly with the principal to discuss concerns.

Committee member Shannon Stewart said that before the protest, there was a lack of communication between students and administrators. Now that they are meeting regularly with the principal, the students are optimistic that their complaints will be resolved.

“We feel that we’re being listened to now,” said Rygh. “The principal has been very fair; we’ve gotten full cooperation since we confronted him.”

Later this month, they will begin publishing a student newspaper, a first for the school.

Students say they hope that the spirit of activism will not end when they graduate.

“It’s not just for us,” said Lemke. “We want to teach the juniors and sophomores what we’ve done and have them continue what we’ve learned. We’re doing this for future students.”

The students said they are proud to have been able to carry off the protest.

McClure is proud, too. He is happy that mini-truckers not only have spawned a movement in teen-age political action, but have turned around their reputation as hoodlums. “We went from nobodies to becoming somebodies,” he said.

The same night the skateboarders first fought for their rights, the mini-truckers presented a plaque to the city thanking it for its action.

“I feel really good; I feel maybe we started something, maybe other kids will keep adding to it and building more off of it,” McClure said.

Then he reflected for a moment and chuckled: “Simi’s in a lot of trouble now.”