Westboro Baptist Church:

It has come to our attention that the Westboro Baptist Church is protesting at our high school over a poster regarding pronouns in a middle school classroom. We want to provide you with all the necessary information about the protest and how to respond to it.

The Westboro Baptist Church, founded in 1955 by Fred Phelps, is infamous for its public protests across America, particularly targeting the LGBTQ+ community, atheists, Jews, Muslims, and transgender individuals.

As a student, I was unsure of how to handle the arrival of protesters. I wanted to avoid any actions that could lead to trouble or cause problems. Therefore, I have compiled a list of dos and don’ts for such situations.

DOs-DONTs:

The first thing you should do is try your best to avoid the sidewalk near the B-tech where the protest will be taking place. If you happen to walk through there to get to school then try your best to avoid it as much as possible. Maybe even ask for a ride to school. If you can’t get a ride to school try to go before the protest is set to start around 7:00-7:30.

It’s important not to engage with protestors, even if you don’t agree with them. This means refraining from yelling, arguing, or participating in a counter-protest. Their aim is to gain attention and provoke a reaction from students, so it’s best to do the opposite. Avoid them altogether and simply make your way to class.

And lastly, just walk to class, don’t stop and look at them or stare. Like I said previously their goal is for you to give them attention. Just avoid them in general and walk to class as I said before. 

If you do these three things the protest will go through smoothly. I understand it’s hard to just walk inside like there isn’t a protest going on. But to cause less trouble for you, other students, police officers, and administrators just do those three things