Chile's Student Activists: A Course in Democracy

The movement began last year with inconclusive petitions to the government of President Ricardo Lagos. After the January election of Michelle Bachelet, a Socialist who won by campaigning for social justice and compassion for the poor and vulnerable, many student leaders began the new academic year with optimism. They waited for Bachelet to address education reform during a May state of the nation speech; when she didn't, a new sort of protest movement immediately blossomed.

"I'd leave school in the afternoons and go to the national student assembly," Delfino said. "Other days, when I had tests, I'd study at night and sleep three or four hours, then go to class in the morning and do the same thing again. My friends talked about 'The Ghost of Karina.' "

The day after Bachelet's speech, an all-girls public school was taken over by pupils. Thousands of students boycotted classes. Soon private school students joined in the protests, while university students and teachers unions also voiced support. The Education Ministry soon began holding negotiations with student leaders, and Bachelet eventually promised more funding to help the poorest students and created a panel, which included student representatives, to discuss broad reforms of the national educational system.

The strain of juggling all that with academics took a toll on some students, which they are confronting now. María Huerta, a movement leaders who attends a technical school here, isn't sure whether she will be able to get into a university next year.

"My mother was bothered by this, because I was spending so much time with the student organizations and not in class," said Huerta, 19. "We have a very close family, but they're all worried about me. My mom is worried about my future, my cousin is worried about my safety, and my uncle doesn't talk to me anymore -- he doesn't agree at all with what I'm doing."

Students such as Huerta and Delfino, who got a strong taste of civic involvement this year, are trying to figure out whether they want to make a career of social involvement. Both said they are considering studying sociology or public administration, but they still aren't sure how they will apply what they learned outside of class.

"The decision I have to make is whether I want to try to make changes through working directly with the community, or through politics," Huerta said. "If I work in the community, I can change the lives of a small group of people. With politics, you can do it on a macro level. But I don't want to join a political party."

Huerta continued to debate the advantages and disadvantages of each choice, coming to the conclusion that she'll have to give it more thought.

Like most leaders of the Penguin Revolution, she has more time to think about such questions now: Tensions have eased considerably as the end of the year approaches. Some students continue to periodically occupy schools because they believe the government is implementing its promises too slowly.

Public opinion of the students isn't as high as it was a few months ago, when polls indicated that about 75 percent of the country backed them, but it is still generally positive. Huerta said she hopes the movement she helped start will be able to regain its strength next year, as a new class of students takes over leadership posts.

"My age group started it, with the idea that you can be supportive of Chile and democracy without having to agree with everything the government does, that it's okay to be critical," Huerta said. "Now we have to see where the students in the first and second years of the high schools take it. I'm eager to see it."