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Tiffany Luo, a senior at Boston Latin School, regularly cares for her older grandmother, her little brother and her two small cousins. She worries she鈥檚 going to be the one who exposes them to COVID-19: Students at her school wear low-quality masks and are crowded inside for lunch, she said.

She wants distance learning to count toward the 180 days that Massachusetts public schools are required to be in session. But Gov. Charlie Baker has refused to change the state鈥檚 rule that counts only in-person days. So Luo, 17, and other Boston students are protesting, walking out of class to draw attention to their demands for remote learning, better protective equipment and improved testing.

鈥淲e want to continue our education, but we shouldn鈥檛 be risking our lives or our families鈥� lives to have a quality education,鈥� said Luo, a representative of the (BSAC), a group of elected student leaders advocating for youth in public high schools citywide.

The demonstrations led by BSAC last week, which included , students staying home and a with speeches from their peers, families and nurses, were one of a number of student-led actions across the country in recent weeks in response to COVID safety measures. Last week, students , and , to demand more protections as cases surge. On Tuesday, for improved safety measures as their .

Like Luo, many of the activists spearheading these demonstrations are young women or girls. At Brooklyn Technical High School in New York 鈥� where January 11 because of their concerns about COVID, kickstarting similar protests nationally 鈥� the organizers of the walkout were both girls. That鈥檚 not a coincidence but part of a larger movement of girl-led activism that鈥檚 gained visibility over the past 15 years due to the work of youth such as Malala, who advocated for girls鈥� education in Pakistan, and climate activist Greta Thunberg, according to Jessica Taft, a professor at the University of California 鈥� Santa Cruz who researches youth activism. In Flint, Michigan, Mari Copeny, now 14, has directed attention to that city鈥檚 water crisis for years.

鈥淲hat we鈥檝e seen in high school is that when there are student movements, they tend to be led by girls and young women,鈥� said Taft, who has researched high school girl activists for more than 20 years. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 not just in the U.S. That鈥檚 fairly true across the globe. Some of that [is because], at times, they do have more at stake. They鈥檙e more vulnerable on various issues. Also, a lot of it has to do with girls鈥� gender socialization to care for community and to care for others 鈥� the idea that you鈥檙e supposed to love the world, look out for other people and have a sense of interdependence with other people.鈥�

It doesn鈥檛 surprise Taft that a student like Luo, a family caregiver, is organizing at Boston Latin, since 鈥済irls are more likely to be in these kinds of caring positions in their families and to be attuned to the needs of the sort of wider community that they鈥檙e caring for.鈥�

Luo said that some of her classmates have waved away her concerns about COVID because they believe it鈥檚 not a serious illness for the vaccinated population. But she鈥檚 heard about people who鈥檝e developed long COVID, or long-lasting symptoms after contracting the virus. She does not want to take a chance with the health of her loved ones.

鈥淚t was like a huge anxiety, every time I went to school, knowing that I could come home and bring it back to these highly vulnerable individuals,鈥� she said. Also, if she gets sick, she won鈥檛 be able to care for her grandmother and young relatives, she said.

Although girl activism has become newly visible in the 21st century, Taft said, it is not new. In the 1970s, high school girls walked out of school to protest dress codes and sexual harassment, she said. But the pandemic particularly lends itself to girl-led activism because fighting the virus centers on the desire to protect individuals more vulnerable than oneself, according to Taft. Too often, high school boys are socialized to behave as if nothing, even a global pandemic, scares them, so admitting how fragile life can be doesn鈥檛 鈥渘ecessarily align with certain versions of young masculine toughness,鈥� she argued.

Boys, especially athletes, make up the bulk of students who oppose Luo鈥檚 efforts, the teen told The 19th. Even boys from other school districts have contacted her on social media to object to her efforts to bring back remote learning because they don鈥檛 want their athletic seasons cut short, she said.

They鈥檝e told her that they don鈥檛 believe COVID is real, she added, or that they鈥檝e already had the virus and recovered without developing serious health problems. Some have tried to intimidate her: 鈥淭hey鈥檙e saying that I should mind my own business, and I should just stay home and never attend school,鈥� Luo said.

According to Taft, girl activists typically face 鈥渧ery specific kinds of dismissals and intimidation and harassment.鈥� It can take the form of critiquing their looks or characterizing them as too noisy or disruptive to be adequately 鈥渇eminine.鈥� Often, as in Luo鈥檚 case, girls are simply dismissed as 鈥渘ot knowing what they鈥檙e talking about,鈥� Taft said. 鈥淭here are all kinds of dismissals that they face as well as some real threats of harm, really intense forms of harassment and bullying.鈥�

The girls fighting for safety precautions during the Omicron surge have not only faced backlash from peers but also accusations that they just want to skip school. It鈥檚 a charge that Rommy Sasson, an 11th-grade organizer of the walkout at Brooklyn Tech, finds preposterous: They just don鈥檛 want to get sick or continue to attend half-empty classes because so many of their teachers and classmates are already out sick. She said students walked out of class last week to avoid missing school due to COVID-19 in the near future.

As it is, 鈥渢he people who are attending school are attending a somewhat diminished version of in-person education,鈥� she said, referring to staffing shortages at schools. She pointed out that students walked out before finals week, a key time for preparation. 鈥淟arge numbers of students decided that this walkout and fighting for this cause to keep students and staff safe was in many ways more important for this one day than maintaining the grades they鈥檝e worked so hard to achieve. It really takes a dire situation to get Brooklyn Tech students to skip their classes and walk out.鈥�

Although they鈥檝e faced criticism, the organizers have also won support from some of the adults in their communities. In Boston, both politicians and parents have supported the young activists. U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley and state lawmakers including Massachusetts Rep. Tram T. Nguyen have voiced their support for their concerned students, and Mayor Michelle Wu has described Baker鈥檚 ban on remote schooling as 鈥渢oo rigid.鈥�

Sarah Horsley of the group BPS (Boston Public Schools) Parents for COVID Safety has participated in protests with the students as well as adults 鈥� mostly mothers and grandmothers, she said, concerned about their families during the latest COVID surge. Most recently, Horsley joined Friday鈥檚 webinar organized by Boston youth.

鈥淪tudents are saying they are afraid for their health and their family鈥檚 lives,鈥� said Horsley, parent of a BPS third-grader. 鈥淚n some cases, students are sharing that they have grandparents who are fragile health-wise. They鈥檙e sharing that they鈥檙e afraid for their teachers who are out with COVID. So in terms of walking out, this is a way to kind of say, 鈥楬ey, wake up. This is how strongly we feel about this. Listen to us.鈥欌��

So far, student protests have yielded some conversations but no major shifts in policies. In New York City, Department of Education Chancellor David C. Banks invited student organizers to meet with him about their concerns with school safety during the coronavirus crisis. Classes in Boston and New York City remain in person. But Sasson hopes this recent burst of youth activism will ultimately make a difference and spur her peers to action.

鈥淚 hope that the fact that we鈥檙e girls leading this movement can give inspiration to other girls and women out there who might only be exposed to a lot of male role models,鈥� she said. 

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