Hundreds Of US Students Demonstrate Asking Friends To Be Released From Prison

Demonstration of freeing Grace from prison (twitter @mnisakhan)

JAKARTA - Hundreds of students demonstrated outside Groves High School, Oakland, United States (US) to call for the release of their classmates who are in juvenile detention. They feel that their friend doesn't deserve a sentence of imprisonment, simply for not completing their schoolwork during the last semester's distance learning.

To that end, protesters who initially only held a demonstration at their school, then marched on their way to the Oakland County Court and the prosecutor's office. Those who rallied were complete with messages containing "Free Grace."

Students who participated in the demonstration thought that Grace's academic performance was not that bad, considering that her region was implementing distance learning due to the outbreak of COVID-19. One of the protesters, Prudence Canter also revealed that this was normal.

At Groves High School, a line of cars are parking to protest the detention of 15-year-old Grace, the subject of @ ProPublicaIL's investigation. She was sent for missing online coursework. The protest is organized by @MILiberation and will go to down the Telegraph. @freep #FreeGrace pic.twitter.com/pdENKTEDp4

- nisa khan (@mnisakhan) July 16, 2020

"A lot of people have a hard time studying this semester, no one has the motivation to do anything, because the teachers don't teach in person and we are all online. I know so many people who don't do their homework," said 18-year-old Canter. quoted by Channel News Asia. Friday 17 July.

Not only Canter, a social studies teacher at Grove, Geoff Wickersham, is also concerned about what happened to Grace. "It looks like the judge or the social worker doesn't know how the values and due dates and things are structured during the pandemic's closure in the spring. I think this is a huge injustice."

The prosecution declined to comment

Unfortunately, the prosecutor's office declined to comment. In fact, judge Mary Ellen Brennan, who passed the verdict, was not immediately available for comment. Earlier, Oakland County Authority David Coulter posted the statement online on Tuesday, July 14. He himself wrote that he had discussed the matter with the judge.

"While there are many details he cannot share with me and the public to protect the privacy of minors and their families, I believe a review of this case in court or during the appeal process is indispensable," Coulter wrote.

Inevitably, it also provoked the US congressman, Andy Levin to comment on Grace's detention. She wrote online that children should not be locked up for not doing homework.

"The only prosecutor's witness did not know the students' learning disabilities. Witnesses who can provide a better understanding of the situation, such as student teachers, cannot testify, ”wrote Levin.

According to reports, a 15-year-old student who was in juvenile detention was allegedly fighting and stealing from his mother during the distance learning period. However, ProPublica reports Grace has a distraction in the form of difficulty focusing. Which is young himself distracted when studying at home due to distance learning.