High School Propaganda

[AidanChrist]

Me and a few comrades at our local high school have recently come together to make an attempt at spreading some communist thought around our school. Our strategy so far is to print off a bunch of very basic, easy to read and informative leaflets (preferably one page) that would explain the basics of Marxist thought and maybe bust a few of the misconceptions against communism (it looks great on paper etc..) I go to a very liberal school where lines like that are constantly reiterated making it impossible to have any kind of discussion. Does anyone on here have any other ideas on how we can get our message across or have some kind of leaflet that would be easy to print and distribute?

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

I highly recommend putting some real effort into the aesthetic side of anything you're doing. Check out www.prole.info (http://www.prole.info) for an idea of what I'm getting at.
Secondly - pamphlets are pretty limited unless there's a real space to discuss them. When I was in high school we definitely got more traction by:

a) Setting up tables where people could not only pick up pamphlets, but really hash stuff out with us. This is doubly important because - well, we didn't know everything, and it provided a space for us to learn.
b) Film screenings with pizza. Seriously, it totally pays dividends to scrape together $30 to order a couple pizzas.
c) Off "campus" meetings. Have something in a coffee shop or community space. Make coming out to it a worthwhile thing to do after class. Plus, that way, you can include older activists from other communities, and find ways to support each others' projects. Almost any work I do always benefits from there being a handful of energetic teenagers who want to plaster the city in posters, etc. - and I have access to resources (a photocopier, a significant radical library, over a decade's worth of contacts, etc.) that could be useful to folk organizing in their high school.

[ecosoc]

AidanChrist I am in a very similiar situation as you. Our school most likely isn't as liberal as your's, but we've managed to start the conversation. Posters work, if you can get them approved(Or put them up anyway). We have also started a website, el subversivo dot wordpress dot com. If you and your comrades are interested in joining us, message me.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

Posters work, if you can get them approved(Or put them up anyway).

Emphasis on that last bit. If you want to pick an easy fight with an admin, defending students' capacity to communicate with one another (whether it's about posters, pamphlets, or whatever) is both necessary (since radicals need to be able to communicate with and learn from their fellow students) and relatable (most students in high school experience some sort of silencing).

[mushroompizza]

No faces of leaders, just use symbols like the hammer and sickle or a yellow star.

[Rafiq]

What determines whether this is a waste of time or not is largely the demographic composition of your high school, i.e. in terms of class of course.

Secondly, I do not recommend this. There's no reason to mobilize high school students. What would be more useful would be to enhance the theoretical sophistication of your ideas, i.e. to re-evaluate them and so on. Form reading clubs, or platforms where you can simply discuss your ideas.

[BIXX]

There's no reason to mobilize high school students.

There's no reason to mobilize anyone.

But honestly, I do think starting trying to find others now is a good idea. When I was in HS I did a lot of that (and to be honest it was largely unsuccessful) but the ones you do find, if personalities don't clash or anything, will be well worth the effort. But trying to radicalize people through posters and shit ain't gonna work. I would like to say that it's because of class content at the school I attended but honestly it had more to do with the liberal culture of the school.

Also, think about what you'd like to do in the future. Think heavily on this. Don't do anything that will jeopardize your future actions (if you wanna lead mass movements, for example, don't do anything to hinder that; if you wanna be more underground about your actions, don't be as vocal about your views). I wish someone had given me that advice in high school honestly.

High school will likely be more about just getting through it than committing any actions, because of the way your life will be structured. Not to say you can't try, just it may be more difficult.

[Comrade Jacob]

Burst into school with a banner of Stalin and Mao. And cry "long live the people's war"

[#FF0000]

Me and a few comrades at our local high school have recently come together to make an attempt at spreading some communist thought around our school. Our strategy so far is to print off a bunch of very basic, easy to read and informative leaflets (preferably one page) that would explain the basics of Marxist thought and maybe bust a few of the misconceptions against communism (it looks great on paper etc..) I go to a very liberal school where lines like that are constantly reiterated making it impossible to have any kind of discussion. Does anyone on here have any other ideas on how we can get our message across or have some kind of leaflet that would be easy to print and distribute?

People aren't going to care if you're trying to push ideas without connecting it to their lives and issues they actually care about. My suggestion is to avoid the parochial "political education" angle, because then you're just dictating ideas to people via pamphlets with no context and no reason for them to care.

What you should do is try to organize around issues that directly affect students in your school and district.

Also, despite what others in this thread have said, there absolutely is a reason to mobilize high school students, as America's public school system has been systematically dismantled and hamstrung over the course of the past 20 or so years. Students are on the front line of this, and see and feel the severity of cuts.

There are some excellent examples of radical high-school student organizations that you could look to. The Philadelphia Student Union comes to mind immediately. They've been active for a few years now, and have been very successful in fighting against privatization, taking on school and city administration in their struggle. Another similar organization just sprouted in Newark.

I suggest contacting the Philadelphia Student Union and talking to them, asking them if they have any pointers on how to organize.