IP: Text of student criticism of high school

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

I could not agree more with Declan. Parents are responsible to punish such speech NOT arbitrary application of school 
administrators. They the school, are notorious for ignoring the Bill of Rights and even the law. For example in Penn 
there is no requirement for school children to recite the pledge of allegiance  if they object to it, yet school 
authorities to my personal knowledge (a number of years ago) still pressured and pushed a person to do so even when the 
law said something else.  

Dave
ps the ACLU has several pamphlets in states giving school rights (at least on  paper)


To: "Larry Andrew" <LLAndrew () powersurge net>
From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>


Seems to me that what the kids did was offensive, but parents should be the
ones to punish them. If we allow school administrators to punish kids for
what they do and say when at home, we open the door to a more unpleasant
situation than a few nasty words on a web page.

-Declan


At 12:19 AM 12-30-98 -0600, Larry Andrew wrote:
> If MY kids tried to put up a page using language like this, they would have
> been in considerably more trouble than the school could ever hope to give
> them!
>
> On the other hand,  it sounds like these kids are describing the White
> House, or perhaps the federal government as a whole.  Why should their high
> school be any different?  Consider the supposed role-models in Wahington
> D.C. - why should our children think they or anyone else have any need to
> follow a higher moral code (forget about ethics!!) than do our country's
> leaders?
>
> Are there really parents who condone that sort of language from their
> teenage children?  Are these kids' parents some of the same ones who
> complain that the US educational system is not giving their children a
> decent education?  Well, just who is supposed to give those children a
> "decent upbringing"?
>
> Perhaps, living in the Iowa outback, I just don't hear what goes on in the
> real world....  :)  But I do hope that my children learn to express
> themselves better than this.  (Yes, I agree, only time will tell.)
>
> I may agree/disagree with any number of issues on free speech, but this
> strikes me as abusive.
> Larry
> =================
> Lawrence L. Andrew
>
> LLAndrew () powersurge net
>
> A complex system that does not work is invariably found to have
>   evolved from a simpler system that worked just fine.
> =================
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
> To: politech () vorlon mit edu <politech () vorlon mit edu>
> Date: Tuesday, December 29, 1998 6:30 PM
> Subject: FC: Text of student criticism of high school
>
>
> This is the text of the personal web page that got the kid in trouble. It
> will
> not surprise you to learn that he has not put it back online, though the
> court
> allowed him to do it. My article:
>  http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/17068.html
>
> -Declan
>
>
> Brittney & Brandon's Kick Ass Home Page!!
>
> Hello friends, Welcome to our website.  Please excuse it, we're new at
> this, so
> it's not very good.  Please check out some of our links and feel free to
> e-mail
> us on suggestion of how to make it better.
>
> We live in Marble Hill, Missouri and go to Woodland High School.  We have
> many
> friends on the net and if your one of them, or not, make yourself at home.
>
> Please visit our FUCKED UP High School, "Home of the fucked up faculty
> members
> from HELL!"  Don't forget to e-mail our asshole principal and tell Delma
> Farell
> that her page sucks dick.
>
> Why our school is fucked up, you ask?
> Well, where do I start...let me see...number one, the students are treated
> like
> they are lower than dirt, and are constantly reminded of this.  If one of
> the
> faculty members do something which can be upheld by the court, a new rule
> pops
> up in the school policy.  No one knows where it came from, but it seems as
> if
> it^Rs been there for ages.  Then they send the people who it affected
> apology
> letters!!  What a bunch of shit!!  Well, I guess you don't want to know the
> whole story (I sure wouldn't), so I guess that is enough about that!
>
>
>
>
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