Discard Your Placards: Student Protests Twenty-First Century Style

The culture of being a student has changed a great deal over the last forty years. Some things, however, have remained the same: the general lifestyle of sex drugs and rock and roll is one of them. Some things have disappeared completely: certain fashion trends are best consigned to the history books.

And some things, such as student protests, have evolved and morphed in appearance. Students are no longer prepared to march through the streets of major cities to get what they want, as was standard procedure during the 1960’s.

Back then, student protests spoke not only on behalf of students. The Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement provided students in the United States with multiple opportunities to take to the streets in the name of public opinion. As the war in Vietnam spread into neighbouring Cambodia in 1970, American campuses erupted with protests, in what Time magazine called “a nation-wide student strike”.

More recently, the pending war in Iraq brought out many anti-war protestors all over the world in 2003. Capital cities were jammed with people of all ages who were opposed to the forth-coming military invasion. In Rome, three million people gathered in what the Guinness Book of Records lists as the largest ever anti-war rally.

So on an international level, traditional protests and demonstrations remain as vibrant as ever.

On a more local level, however, the turnout was not so promising. The demonstrations in Manchester on March 19 2003 began with just 300 students; some were secondary school students, and others were in further education. By the time the march reached the BBC studios, the numbers had swelled to a still-disappointing 1,000. The figures are staggeringly small when we take into account the size of the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, and all the students here in nearby Liverpool.

Yet the student conscience remains in tact.

The protests and demonstrations may not be as visible as with previous generations of students, but the causes for which we should fight are still there.

Since the sixties, the battleground has shifted. Cyberspace is the new realm of protest.

The biggest issue concerning students in recent years has been the introduction of top-up fees. The thought of paying tuition fees of up to £3,000 shocked many students at my level of study. I myself am a third year student, and the last to gain a degree without paying the increased fees. I, admittedly, was one of 10,000 students who failed to turn out for a demonstration in London in late 2006.

On the face of it, it might seem as if student protests are dying out.

The “march” against top-up fees on October 29, 2006 turned out to be more of a gentle waddle for those who turned up. It was a leisurely and peaceful stroll through the capital, taking in the sights along the way.

But students still care. And students still protest for what they believe in.

Despite the government ignoring the demonstrations against an invasion of Iraq, and despite the introduction of increased tuition fees, protests are still an integral part of student life. The success rate may not be anything close to 100%, but students should not desire it to be. Protests are about standing up and speaking out with regard to the issues you are concerned about. They are about making people aware of matters they might know little of.


With the creation of social networking sites such as Facebook, students can do this without getting up at 05:30 in the morning, sitting for hours on a coach down to London, walking through cold, damp streets, and getting back home some time after midnight. Why should students do this when they can make themselves heard “from the comfort of their swivel chairs”, as one commentator recently put it? What is most advantageous is that students can speak out on “minority” issues that perhaps would not merit marches through cities, but matter nonetheless.

Despite the creation of numerous groups on Facebook stating their opposition to tuition fees, the dreaded Higher Education Bill still became law. So cyber protests aren’t as effective as the old methods?

The bank HSBC would beg to differ.

Prior to the start of the 2007 / 08 academic year, they announced plans to abolish interest-free overdrafts for students who had recently graduated. Students, being understandably outraged, discarded their placards and logged on to the Internet instead. The creation of a group on Facebook quickly attracted over 5,000 members from all over the world, and forced HSBC into an embarrassing u-turn. The world’s local bank was undone by a global student protest group. There wasn’t a placard in sight.

One of the more subtle changes, though, concerns the issues which before the age of the Internet might have gone untouched.

It was in my hometown that Garry Newlove perished at the white Reeboks of Warrington scum. His death shocked the nation, and the sentencing of his murderers has been considered by many to be too lenient. The result has been the creation of the Facebook group “RIP Garry Newlove - Time to reclaim our streets”.

Promoting itself as the “official launch of the “New Love” campaign”, the group calls for action with regard to yobs in Britain. 2,000 Facebook users have already given their digital signature and backing to the campaign, and the number is likely to rise in coming weeks and months. This particular group is typical of many others on Facebook and the Internet in general: while it is an expression of grief, it is also a platform for change and betterment in society.

So what does the future hold for student protests?

March 15 marks the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, and a national demonstration is scheduled to make its way through the streets of London. Organisers are hopeful of a turnout in excess of 10,000, but don’t bet your house on it. As this goes to print, students in Manchester are demonstrating on February 15 to mark the demonstrations of February 15 2003; a funeral procession is, as I write, making its way from the student union to the nearest Army recruitment centre.

It looks as if the big marches through the world’s cities will continue, but in close conjunction with the social networking sites on the Internet. The ability for organisers to contact thousands of students within seconds has the potential to make future demonstrations even bigger and even louder than in previous decades. The danger, however, is what could be perceived as apathy. Joining the group is one thing, and it does make a difference. Joining the march is quite another.

Yours, wherever you may be,
Daniel C. Wright