During a field trip to Washington on Thursday, half of an eighth-grade class from New Jersey refused to take part in a photo op with House Speaker Paul Ryan. About 100 students from South Orange Middle School sat in a parking lot across the street as Ryan took photos with the rest of the class. Ryan posted one of those photos to his Instagram account with the caption, “Got that Friday Feeling.”
Students who explained their decision to sit out the picture said they didn’t want to be associated with any of Ryan’s policies. “I think that taking the picture represents that you agree with the same political views and I don’t agree with his political views so I chose not to be in it,” said Wendy Weeks. Others, however, were more explicit that their rejection to taking part in the picture had to do with President Donald Trump. “I didn’t want to be in [the picture] because he believes in most of what Trump believes in,” another eighth-grader, Louisa Maynard-Parisi, told the Village Green.
Some who did participate in the photo op said it had more to do with meeting the third most powerful person in the country than endorsing his policies. “I thought it would be interesting to see one of the nation’s lawmakers in person even if I strongly disagree with many of his views,” Alex Klint said.
Although some parents expressed reservations to sitting out the picture because Ryan is an elected official, others publicly expressed support for those who sat out of the photo. Elissa Elliott Malespina, for example, wrote on Facebook that she was “so proud” of her son Matthew.
