Students are protesting, but are the adults hearing them?

A video released on Sept. 19 shows a black man in Tulsa with his hands up before being fatally shot by a white police officer there. The next day, a black man in Charlotte, N.C., is shot by an officer there, too.

Three days later, students at North Springs Charter High School in Sandy Springs stage a sit-in sparked by an incident at the school, they say, while also paying respects to black victims in police-involved shootings.

As students begin conversations on police brutality, racial tensions, even the presidential election, school districts are struggling to define their role. While some say schools offer a space for free expression, recent incidents, including Cobb County's superintendent saying athletes would be benched for taking a knee during the national anthem and Fulton County suspending a teacher for participating in that North Springs High sit-in, show otherwise.