WAY TO GO! 1/2 of S. Orange NJ 8th grade class refused to be used as photo prop for lyin' Paul Ryan

[kpete]

About 50% of Visiting South Orange Students Refuse Photo With Speaker Ryan
By villagegreennj access_timeMay-25-2017
Golda Och - Fall 2016 Open Houses
Updated 9:41 a.m. with a quote from a student who chose to participate in the photo with Speaker Ryan.



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About half the students in a group of South Orange Middle School 8th graders touring the Capitol in D.C. this past week refused a photo with House Speaker Paul Ryan, according to students on the field trip.

Elissa Malespina, a school librarian who is also the parent of a SOMS eighth grader, reported that her son was among the students who declined to pose with Ryan for a photo.

“I am so proud of my son and 1/2 the 8th grade at South Orange Middle School,” Malespina wrote on Facebook. “They went to D.C. on a field trip and toured the Capitol building. The kids had a chance to have their picture taken with Paul Ryan and over half the class choose not to, including my son! What a powerful statement.”



The kids gave reasoned opinions for their choice — and said they were not fueled by partisanship.

“I think that taking the picture represents that you agree with the same political views and I don’t agree with his political views so I chose not to be in it,” said Wendy Weeks, an 8th grade SOMS student.

“I can’t take a picture with someone who supports a budget that would destroy public education and would leave 23 million people without healthcare,” said 8th grade SOMS student Matthew Malespina.

“I didn’t want to be in (the picture] because he believes in most of what Trump believes in,” said another SOMS 8th grader, Louisa Maynard-Parisi.


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http://villagegreennj.com/schools-kids/about-50-of-visiting-south-orange-students-refuse-photo-speaker-ryan/

[Else You Are Mad]

1. There is hope for the future.

When I was in 8th grade, I had no political knowledge. Good on these kids for being knowledgeable.

[smirkymonkey]

2. Smart kids!

Nice to see how politically aware they are!

[Dem_4_Life]

3. Way to go! Smart kids!

These kids are more politically aware than most Americans.

[angstlessk]

4. Being politically aware at 13 is both sad and amazing at the same time..

The only political touch I had was in elementary school when Kennedy was running..it was a Catholic school and we all got into a school bus and was transported to the Catholic high school where he had given a speech. We got to line the street as his motorcade passed by

[oasis]

5. RESIST.

It's growing.

[wildeyed]

6. One of our local congress-critters got dragged by the 8th grade science class

at my kid's school for his climate change denial views. I wasn't there, but heard from a parent who was. He wanted an easy photo op with the one of the district's highest scoring classes and got a little more than he bargained for in the Q & A portion

Robert Pittenger is such a moron. It takes some really severe gerrymandering to keep a guy who can get his ass beat by 8th graders in a debate in office. Sigh.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

7. Would have loved to see that

[uponit7771]

8. Wow

[Ilsa]

9. These kids understand more about politics than many voters.

At least they understand about voting in their best interests and for that of their classmates.

[oberliner]

10. Would you be cheering if students did this to Maxine Waters

Or another Democratic Congressperson we respect/admire?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

11. I don't think the librarian, by congratulating half the class, handled it well.

She should have congratulated the entire class. She should have said that some students made one choice and some students made another, but that each student thought for himself.

A school librarian should not single out students for not making what she determined was the praiseworthy choice. She should have praised all the students.

[oberliner]

12. Agreed

That's pretty much my take as well.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

13. She's an employee of the school system.

Her job is to help students find the information they're looking for in the library.

Okay, there are limits to that. If the students are looking for information on making bombs, she needs to step in and say something. But she should be as helpful to students writing a position paper that is pro-***** as she is to students writing a position paper that is pro-Hillary.

She can do this by noting that some sites are news sources, while others are dominated by partisan opinions.

There's a time for wearing her mother of a student hat and a time for wearing her librarian hat.

Good morning.

[oberliner]

14. Yes, exactly

If there was a school trip to meet with Maxine Waters and half the class declined to have their picture taken with her because they found her politics to be too liberal or something like that - and the school librarian praised those students for taking that stand, I think the reaction here would be not so positive.

[wildeyed]

16. She was interviewed as a parent.

The article IDs her as *a* school librarian, but it is clear when you read the article that she is being interviewed as a parent of one of the students. It's a poorly written article that lacks clarity.

[wildeyed]

15. I might disagree with their reasoning but it would be their right to do so.

1st Amendment is a thing for both sides.