The Hippies Parked Outside My School
That_Annoying_Kid
Sire of Titles Join Date: 2003-03-01 Member: 14175Members, Constellation
Sire of Titles Join Date: 2003-03-01 Member: 14175Members, Constellation
in Discussions
Right now, there is a colorfull bus adorned with slogans like "Support the troops, bring them home" and covered in rainbows and a flock of doves flying over a globe.
This was supposed to be a school event as it had gone thru the proper administrative channels, however at the last second it was canceled by the principal [I just found out about this whole thing a few minutes ago, and found it interesting]
so they are barred from campus, one of the students who was going to meet with them but can't cross the street to talk to them said it best with much irony "what? is the administration afraid that peace will suddenly break out across campus"
Even though this event was planned and proper approval was apparently gotten, it was stopped last minute, which reeks of censorship, however the issues are
- how does the school district justify not letting this blatantly peacefull group not come on campus?
- even if they were allowed, would they really stir things up that much, most of the students don't even care?
- do politics get in the way of common sense?
I for one could care less if this group came, they have there own oppinion and are intitled to share it, and the fact that they went thru offical channels and still got denied just shows me that our principal cares more about his own job, and not about the actuall campus.
[I am very biased against him due to the fact he has stonewalled me on every issue I presented to him like being able to play NS at lunch (which we can't do) , and getting the milk machine refilled (which they won't) but those are seperate topics]
This was supposed to be a school event as it had gone thru the proper administrative channels, however at the last second it was canceled by the principal [I just found out about this whole thing a few minutes ago, and found it interesting]
so they are barred from campus, one of the students who was going to meet with them but can't cross the street to talk to them said it best with much irony "what? is the administration afraid that peace will suddenly break out across campus"
Even though this event was planned and proper approval was apparently gotten, it was stopped last minute, which reeks of censorship, however the issues are
- how does the school district justify not letting this blatantly peacefull group not come on campus?
- even if they were allowed, would they really stir things up that much, most of the students don't even care?
- do politics get in the way of common sense?
I for one could care less if this group came, they have there own oppinion and are intitled to share it, and the fact that they went thru offical channels and still got denied just shows me that our principal cares more about his own job, and not about the actuall campus.
[I am very biased against him due to the fact he has stonewalled me on every issue I presented to him like being able to play NS at lunch (which we can't do) , and getting the milk machine refilled (which they won't) but those are seperate topics]
Comments
I for one would be quite upset if my education was disrupted by an outside group. No matter what the cause. Overall the adminstration made a smart move and avoided the backlash that was bound to occur due to upset parents and news organizations.
Where do you live? Sparta?
You know, one of my schools was once visited by the PDS' (the remnants of Eastern Germanys SED) party leader. While disagreeing with them on all accounts, they allowed them in for the sake of opening new channels of information and thus <i>education</i> to their pupils. The schools administrator might have every formal right for this, but it doesn't change this from being an undemocratic decision in every sense of the word.
Where do you live? Sparta?
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You aren't far off Nem. The school board here is manned by such obsessive and powermad parents that they could make an SS officer flinch.
I am not saying that I agree or disagree with the decision to prevent people from voicing opinions on a high school campus. Its too hard to say that without more information.
Because the group initially had permission for such an event I am tempted to side against the adminstration on this one unless I hear more information from TAK. My old HS school avoids such issues by not allowing demonstrations by outside organizations on school property by any group. Regardless of their goals or affiliations.
Consider this: In my high school, we had a program about sweatshops one day instead of classes. They brought people in, told us how horrible the conditions were, got a ton of support for the anti-sweatshop movement. Then, one of my smarter friends mentioned off hand that they were obviously pushing an agenda. Looking back, they were. They wanted to end all forms of corporate power, and used sweatshops as a platform. No one told me then, as I know now, the sweatshops are a neccesary evil, as unemployment is an even bigger problem.
Thats pretty OT, but I'm demonstrating that 1 side of the issue isn't fair.
phEar!
Just a week or two ago the head of my schools sixth form organised a presentation from a representative from the "Friends of Israel" group. When we asked him about this later he told us that the point of the talk was to get us to think abouot the Israel/Palestine situation and also to give us a clear example of Bias.
The bias was subtle yet clear through out the disscussion and the rest of the students clearly picked up on it. One of the questions was why he kept refering to "Islamic Terror" as any true practicing muslim condems the terrorist attacks on Israel. His answer was that he ment "Islamic Terror" is a type of terror, the suicide attacks practiced by muslims. Aswell as this he also made lots of spurious points about how "The arabs always go crying to the UN if Israel defends itself".
Needless to say his talk didn't quite have the effect he may have hoped. But with lower school pupils, mostly taught not to question the teachers etc. Would probably have accepted this with out comment and it would have had an impact on their political views in later life. So they most likely wouldn't have let a "Pro-war" group speak either.
A good idea imo. If any discussion is to be had at school it should just be a presentation of the facts, without bias. As in schools the pupils don't have a choice of what to listen to. Outside of school you can go to a protest march etc. in your own time and of your own free will, you are not made to listen to bias rheoric from a point of view you don't share or have no opinion on.
High, hehe
All we need in my HS to get an organization in is: it needs to be sponsored by at least 10 students, needs to be approved by the school dean - he's a resonable guy, and it can't be interfering with any classes going on. Most of the time when these organizations come, they just set up a table next to the cafe and they'll get some big crowds. It does look like not allowing this group in is censorship unless, of course, they <i>were</i> high.
And yes, there is nothing worse then soccer moms, especially the ones that think their kids deserve special treatment for no reason. Acctually, awhile back I heard about this one PTA member who protested allowing a Jewish anti-hate crime group into her child's school. She said something along the lines of seperation of church and state. Of course, she had no prob with the FCLA (Federation of <b>Christian</b> Athletes) having a table and meetings 2nd, 4th, and 7th period everyday. Hypocrites... <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
Not presenting both sides of the case can be a problem for schools. Not only because it can dupe students (and consequently make them very irate a few years later when they find out they've been suckered), but because a blatently one-sided "discussion" can attract a lot of bad press. I recall that a school in Los Angeles had a "teach-in" a few months before the war started. They marched peace activist after peace activist in front of the students for hours, but didn't present one person who was for the war. When questioned about it, the response was something like, "We invited President Bush and Secretary Powell, but they didn't show up." <i>Well duh.</i> Of course they didn't show up. The President and Secretary of State can't just up and go to every place that invites them. There's neither the time nor the energy, and it seems very likely that the school knew this. If they didn't, they probably shouldn't be teaching.
There are a few cases where I've seen one-sided arguments that were alright. I recall when I was in high school, they brought a trauma surgeon to school to talk to the students about unsafe driving practices like speeding and DUI. It's pretty safe to talk about that sort of thing since both speeding and DUI are illegal and you're not likely to find anybody to argue in favor of drinking and driving or doing 100 mph in a 35 zone.
There's also the fact that minors don't have full constitutional rights when they're at school and prohibiting certain activities, particularly those that could be disruptive (like a bunch of peace activists on a very divisive issue like Iraq), is well within the scope of the school administration. Keep in mind that I'm not necessarily supporting the administration, but am simply giving a few reasons why such a thing might work.
High, hehe<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Hmm, well after asking around and searching the recyle I found what I rememberd glancing at yesterday while I was taking with the rest of the teachers stuff [I'm a TA that period, this year is more of a formality when it comes to grades becuase I have all my credits and could have graduated last year, GG summer school] up and I read the Principals Newsletter becuase he has a fish tank, and he upadates in every new letter how it is doing, and I swear he is masacuring everything in that tank, but thats off-topic.
This is what the principals teacher newsletter reads:
[I swear I copied it true to form on my rabbit as I'm looking at the paper and find it pointless to provide worthless information, just a small disclaimer becuase i'm paranoid in discussion forums about getting whacked by Monsieur or Nemesis for not having good sources, and this is the follow up to why the group of non-violent protestors weren't allowed on the campus after being they event set up for them was canceled by the administration one period before it was due to happen]
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Blue Devil Tales</b>
<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'><b>By Mike Cawley</b> [<--- he is the Principal of this school]</span>
<span style='font-size:10pt;line-height:100%'><b>December 15, 2003</b></span>
11. Aquarium Update - everybody is still alive.
<b>12.</b> Wheels of Justice tour has been cancelled. There was concern about the balance of the program that was to be presented to our students.
<i>? ? ? ? ? ? Thought Of the Day
I try to take one day at a time, but somitimes several days attack me at once. </i>[Why does this newlsetter always remind me of something the PHB in Dilbert would produce... It's scary but sadly off-topic]<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is the only insight I have currently into the offical word from the administration, but I will ask him next time I can catch him out of his office, or make an apointment...
[edit]
yeah, I see the borked tag but I previed this post and tried to make it work, just hit quote and see if you can fiddle with the forum code
[/edit]
When looking on this with hindsight from last year, there was a week long event that was something about racial equality , and their was an assembly which most of the speaker were on one side of the issue, and many of the students actually saw thru the propaganda [we were doing a propaganda unit in my public speaking class, I find that ironic] and many students complained.
I think that #12 basically meant if we were going to have an anti war presentation, we would need a pro war one as well...
Oh wait, that would just be another day in a teenager's life at school. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
ZING!
Oh wait, that would just be another day in a teenager's life at school. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
ZING! <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
ouch
sad but true
As my computer teacher says whenever one of us make's a terrible joke, but I will provide the quote with an example that is classic
[This was 1st semester of CISCO last year]
Teacher: okay, what do good networks have?
Me: redundancy
Teacher: correct, something else?
Student: reliability
Teacher: Yup, anyone else
Me: Redundancy
Teacher: you alread said that
me: <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
[most of the other people in the class got it right off the bat, but it took her a couple seconds]
Teacher: <!--QuoteBegin--Jan Meizel+ sometime last year--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Jan Meizel @ sometime last year)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> >_< That was bad, I mean really bad. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Well.. Ammendmant to free speech. The freedom to look like a total moron.
Once some anti-war protesters stopped by my school, they sat on the doors and claimed they wouldn't move until the troops were out of Iraq.
It's fascinating what a high-velocity projectile in the shape of a can of soda-pop can do.
People tend to be a lot more reasonable.
It was pretty funny, they tried herding us back in with slogans like "Be a warrior for peace!" "Say no to Bush!" "Love! Not war!"
I responded with "Get a job!!" and flung my 6'4 240lb figure at them.
That sent them running.
When the hippies won't think straight, fling a large hispanic teenager at them.
I don't have a problem with people expressing their opinions. I just have a problem with how stupid their methods of presenting it are. If I see someone letting their voice be heard, it's all good. Even if I disagree, they have a right to be heard. But if they in anyway encroach on me or my friends and they do not listen when I ask them to stop, I will take action.