despite its best efforts, the campaign did not receive the national attention that its strategists had hoped for. they decided to include students in the demonstrations. on may 2, almost a thousand african-american kids skipped school to join the protests. demonstrators quickly overflowed the cells in birmingham. with the cells full. he used police dogs and fire hoses on the kids. images of children being hosed down and dogs being mauled made national headlines. the protests had drawn the attention of the entire country.