Activists assemble their own school 'survival kits'

By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Education Writer

Testing the boundaries of free speech at Hawai'i public schools, several activists and social-service groups are giving students "survival kits" that include messages against war, racism and military recruiting.

The kits, which are being distributed by students at a handful of O'ahu high schools, also contain information on where students can learn more about domestic violence, low-cost healthcare, sexual identity and birth control.

Called "Survival Kits 4 the Real World," the packets are a response to the Jesus Hawai'i Project, in which students passed out Christian-themed kits on middle and high-school campuses last spring. The activists even copied the yellow plastic bags used in the evangelical campaign.

"I feel it's really important for students to make informed choices," said Robin Nussbaum, who coordinates the Gay Liberation Project for the American Friends Service Committee, a peace and justice group and one of the organizations behind the kits.

"We want them to have access to this information."

The state Department of Education has notified schools that students have the right to pass out the kits on campus before school, between classes, during lunch and after school. The DOE ruled earlier this year that the survival kits from the Jesus Hawai'i Project, which included Christian music and a modern version of the New Testament, were constitutionally protected speech.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i praised students involved with the Christian-themed kits for exercising their rights and provided a brochure on the Bill of Rights and recommendations on what the students should do if stopped by Hawai'i police. The kits were sent out by activists and social-service groups.

Other groups that have contributed material for the Survival Kits 4 the Real World include Planned Parenthood of Hawai'i, Refuse & Resist-Hawai'i, Not in Our Name-Hawai'i, Hale Kipa and the Domestic Violence Clearinghouse and Legal Hotline.

The kits include a flier for a march and rally on Saturday at Ala Moana Beach Park calling for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Several fliers and brochures also warn students about military recruiting on campus and the potential drawbacks of joining the military to help pay for college.

Planned Parenthood provided a card about emergency contraceptive pills and a brochure that describes the nonprofit group's clinic, education and advocacy services.

Activists and social-service groups want to send out 7,000 kits and are working with students at several high schools to get them distributed.

Alex Ortiz, an 11th-grader at Kalaheo High School in Kailua, said he and some friends handed out the kits over the past few school days. "There's been a lot of positive reaction, some negative, and some people who just don't care," he said.

Ortiz said he would have liked to have known about some of the services and issues raised by the kits when he was younger. "There's a lot of material that I could have used when I was 13," he said.

D.J. Burnidge, another Kalaheo 11th-grader involved with the kits, said he didn't personally agree with the anti-war messages but felt that students would find the kits useful. "I heard a lot of comments about the anti-war material," he said.

Keli'i Akina, executive director of Hawai'i Youth for Christ, who was the chairman of the Jesus Hawai'i Project, said he was not familiar enough with the new kits to comment. The Jesus Hawai'i Project distributed more than 65,000 of its kits to middle and high schools before the end of the last school year.

"We're very pleased that the Department of Education affirms the right of students to distribute information to each other," Akina said.

Public schools have frequently served as a proving ground for constitutional rights, with recent Mainland court battles over the Pledge of Allegiance and school prayer. Greg Knudsen, a spokesman for the DOE, said students are allowed to hand out material at school as long as the content is not libelous or obscene and doesn't create disorder or violate the rights of other students.

Interest groups often see young people who are still forming their own opinions about politics, religion and world affairs as an attractive audience.

Ortiz said the "survival kits" are about freedom of speech.

"Not everyone agrees with everything that's in there," he said, "but I have an open mind about it."

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.