Our nation was founded upon the principles of speaking out. We championed civil rights and equality with protests. Sometimes you just cannot stay silent on a certain issue. Sometimes organizing is the only way to spur change. Protesting is a fundamental right in the free world and when executed correctly, it can accomplish wonders.

But some of you still live in the romanticism of AP Euro’s French Revolution.

For those not quite in the loop, a student — self-dubbed “The Phoenix” — planned a mass student walkout at 9am today in the quad area to protest the absence of Long Lunch. Flyers circulated the campus all week and many people waited eagerly for this anti-admin demonstration.

But this protest will achieve nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Don’t get me wrong. I miss Long Lunch just as much as the next student. My senior year feels more chaotic than ever with the shortened time. I would gladly welcome the return of Long Lunch, but it won’t come back because of this walkout.

Antagonizing the administration won’t do any good at all. Student voice is very important, but no one wants to listen to a student body that acts out of control. Jumping straight to a walkout instead of communicating and negotiating with the opposite side only makes your movement appear brash and emotional instead of composed and cooperative. Your message may be rightly justified, but it will be lost to time because of your conduct.

Furthermore, the administration did not put the final nail in the coffin for Long Lunch. Your teachers did. TribeTime violated their teacher union agreements because it forced them to babysit an additional period each day. So they voted to remove TribeTime and instead add the extra minutes to each class period. Attacking the administration is ultimately ineffective; they had no control over this unanimous faculty decision.

I applaud students like you for standing up for what’s important to you, but you are going about it the wrong way. Instead of putting all your eggs in one basket with the walkout, opening a dialogue with the administration will make both sides happy in the end. Lasting change comes from strong foundations.

It doesn’t have to be “my way or the highway.” The solution will not come easy and it won’t be one-size-fits-all, but there does not need to be unrelenting bitterness along the way.