Student's editorial calls for gay tolerance, school principal calls for more oversight of newspaper

[Ian David]

Student's gay editorial brings oversight

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- A high school principal wants to tighten control of the student newspaper after a sophomore wrote an editorial advocating tolerance for homosexuals.

Woodlan High School student Megan Chase said she wrote the piece after a friend told her he was gay. "I can only imagine how hard it would be to come out as homosexual in today's society," Chase wrote in the Jan. 19 issue of the Woodlan Tomahawk. "I think it is so wrong to look down on those people, or to make fun of them, just because they have a different sexuality than you."

After the article was published, Principal Edwin Yoder wrote a letter to the newspaper staff and journalism teacher Amy Sorrell insisting that future issues be subject to his approval. Sorrell and the students contacted the Student Press Law Center, an advocacy group for student newspapers, which advised them to appeal the decision.

More:
http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2007/02/students-gay-editorial-brings-oversight.html

Oh, we can't have TOLERANCE in school! Oh, the horror!

[ThomCat]

1. I'd love to hear what this Principal's supposed reasoning is.

x(

[Tyo]

2. The principal was right on

Forget human rights and social issues. These are not news. The school paper needs to stick to football and the Spanish Club field trip and maybe an anemic little gossip column about who was with who at the last dance. In this way the kids will be given a foundation in journalism as it is in the real world in the 21st century.

[JackBeck]

6. Did you miss the part where it stated that it was an "editorial"? n/t

[AndyTiedye]

10. I Think You Missed the Sarcasm in #2

:sarcasm:

[Tyo]

13. Did you miss the part where i said that

human rights and social issues were not news? My point was that the princpal did want the paper taking a stand on an issue or opening anything of consequence up for discussion and expected the paper to stick to in pointless crap the school papers usually deal with. And what better training for the real world?

I do apologize for not wording it better. I can see where you are coming from.

Soooo do you have an actual contribution to make here or are you just going to hang out and pick at other posts?

[SusanaMontana41]

3. disturbing

"Melin, who said he hadn't read the editorial, said school officials have an issue not with the topic but with the lack of balance and thoroughness in the opinion piece."

"Lack of balance" in the opinion piece? Since when do opinions have to be balanced?

And he didn't even read Megan's column before he formed an opinion about it? So he admits he doesn't know what he's talking about?

Prior restraint is a scary threat.

[Ian David]

4. Yes, it needs BALLANCE. Someone needs to write an editorial in favor of HATE...

because what every school needs is for students to constantly be angry at one another and looking for reasons to make one another miserable.

How can you expect them to pass the NCLB tests if they're not constantly tearing one another apart?

[TlalocW]

7. Is he wanting some sort of compare-and-contrast essay you get in English class?

Balance? Just what would that look like?

"While I think that we ought to treat people with different sexuality than ours as equals, I also can see the other side's point of view that we should harass, ostracize, and condemn them to hell."

TlalocW

[SusanaMontana41]

8. Exactly

No doubt he gets his idea of "balance" from the Fox Noise Channel.

[IntravenousDemilo]

16. What article are you quoting here?

"Melin, who said he hadn't read the editorial, said school officials have an issue not with the topic but with the lack of balance and thoroughness in the opinion piece."

I didn't find this sentence anywhere in the gay news blog story. Who's Melin? I thought the principal's name was Yoder.

[saltpoint]

5. This principal knows what's best for everyone. He's the big daddy,

he's the key-holder, he's the hall monitor, he does piss checks, he issues parking tickets downtown on weekends, he ransacks kids' lockers, he calls home if they're dressed improperly, he knows what they should be thinking and what they should eschew as young adults, he knows better than their parents, he will decide what's appropriate for the student paper, he will determine the content of the paper, he will determine what students' futures will be, he wants to put offending students in boxcars and ship them to camps, he will make the final call on every aspect of their lives, ESPECIALLY their impulse to think for themselves, which cannot be permitted in this great country of ours because lesbians and gay men are fucking everything up, they are threatening marriage, they are wicked and immoral, and if we let kids address tolerance issues in print the entire goddam place will go up in blazes.

_______

This school district should fire this principal and hire Kurt Vonnegut instead.

[Solo_in_MD]

9. Indeed it is, welcome to public education today

- little freedom of thought
- little room to improvise
- no squeaky wheels
- no exceptions

The right answer is an outside/underground paper or website. The good news is that the school can not touch it or any of the students they think are involved. The bad news is that it can preach hate as well as acceptance. Regardless, the precedents are clear, the arm of the school stops at gate unless students are on a school function (including transportation). Those same precedents mean the current spate of anti online bullying proposals are non starters.

[SusanaMontana41]

12. God I hope you're not right

I'd hate to concede that we'd have to go "underground" for news ...

[Solo_in_MD]

15. One of the most powerful things about the web is that anyone can publish

One of the downsides of the web is that many do.

Seriously, dating back to the 60s, alternative school newspapers and now websites have been protected and schools specifically prohibited from vengeance against those who publish them. Now and then a school forgets that, gets stupid, loses in court. and pays heavily. I had to lecture a school principal and staff on this a while back. They were not happy, but in the end they saved themselves a lot of grief. Public school speech and behavior codes can not extend beyond school activities and functions. Its the law and those in public education or other public service need to abide by that.

[AndyTiedye]

11. The Fundies Teach Their Kids Hatred and Bigotry, & Don't Want The School Sending "The Wrong Message"

The Fundie churches are mounting a major hate offensive.

[Zenlitened]

14. "let's create a learning environment where we all treat each other nicely."

Nope. No place for that kinda thinking in a school. :crazy:

When Principal I-Don't-Read-I-Just-React finally decides to "spend more time with his family"... maybe Ms. Chase can take over as Acting Principal.

She could certainly offer some guidance as the School Committee seeks out a candidate who -- ya know, maybe, it would be nice if -- possesses the intellectual skills, the character, the sense of dignity required to oversee a successful educational community.

Sheesh.