“‘The biggest problem, Dad, is that there shouldn’t be politics in the classroom… I may just sit in my seat. As far as I’m concerned, that’s the least intrusive of the choices I’ve been given,”’ Jacob said, according to his father. The boy also told him that he was far from the only student who felt that way.
Shoemaker told his son that he supported whatever decision he made, but he should know there might be consequences.
So Jacob did stay in his seat. About an hour after his lone act of civil disobedience, he was handed the out-of-school suspension for Wednesday for failing to follow instructions to either join students outside or those in the study hall.
“He stayed in the classroom, where he was supposed to be in the first place,” Shoemaker said. “It’s kind of ironic.”