The Inoffensiveness Doctrine
By Mitch Berg
I hate “Free Speech in the Schools” debates.
On the one hand, students being adolescents, and adolescents having huge tolerance for drama, the controversies are frequently giggly, overwrought and self-serving.
On the other hand, as I’ve noted (and will note further in the future), school administrations are frequently – how can I say this? – not the brightest lights on the Christmas Tree? And while students under age 18 are not adults and aren’t expected to have fully-formed decision-making skills, school is (in theory) where they’re supposed to start learning how the adult world works.
So that’s why I’m going to side with the students in this rhubarb:
A high-school newspaper in Anoka County will be printed today with a big blue box on the front page because the principal banned a photo that simulated the ripping of an American flag.
“Originally a photo was to be placed here but was censored by the administration,” reads a message inside the box, which is to accompany a front-page story in the Crier student newspaper at St. Francis High School.
It’s not really a flag that was destroyed during a school play last fall, but rather bunting that looks like an American flag. The Cold War-era story had explored the repercussions of a fictional conquest of a U.S. school by an oppressive government such as that of the Soviet Union.
Under the circumstances, the photo in question seems very appropriate to the story.
Not everyone thinks so, of course:
The brouhaha began with a photo that [the paper’s editor Eric] Sheforgen took during the play called “The Children’s Story.” Students handled an actual flag, then substituted shredded bunting to make it appear as though a flag were destroyed. …”A photo of the school’s fall play was not placed in the newspaper after Principal Paul Neubauer threatened the newspaper with possible legal action and froze funds to the Crier’s financial accounts. Because of these actions the Editorial Board felt it had no choice but to not print the picture.”
Under the compromise, the principal allowed the blue box to be published in place of the photo.
A caption reads: “During the fall play, lead actress Becca Bennett held up a prop, made from table cloth bunting, representing how a country could be torn apart by affecting the youth. The picture was removed off the wall in the PAC (Performing Arts Center) hallway.”
Aside: they’re teaching their paper’s editor to write like freelance soft-skills consultant?
[Superintendent] Saxton, who fully supported the principal’s decision, said that while many other photos of the play would have been suitable, the one depicting flag desecration could have offended many veterans and service organizations that support the schools.
Which is, I think, fascinating. I’ve yet to meet a school that fudged one iota about offending, say, Christians, Republicans or pro-lifers. Money talks, I guess.
But this seems like a bad decision on the part of the administration.
January 19th, 2007 at 10:26 am
JB is right in that it is not a money issue. It’s an issue of who complains the loudest and the fastest and let’s face it – Republican/Christian?Pro-lifers are so used to be abused in the school system that it has to be a really egregious affront to get them to complain.
LL
January 19th, 2007 at 10:51 am
That’s cause their kids are all in homeschool, learning that Jesus wrote the 2nd Amendment and dinosaur fossils are all fake.
January 19th, 2007 at 11:40 am
learning that Jesus wrote the 2nd Amendment and dinosaur fossils are all fake…
…and still kicking everyone’s asses on the achievement tests!
January 19th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
> Which is, I think, fascinating. I’ve yet to meet a school that fudged
> one iota about offending, say, Christians, Republicans or pro-lifers.
> Money talks, I guess.
Hmm, it looks like this school does not serve a core city school. Have you met many rural schools?
I don’t know about Minnesota small town and rural schools but I recall my school system (Monroe Junior High and Monroe High School in Monroe WI but serving the farm country around the town) as being quite conservative.
Between my school and my scout troop, my teen years were quite interesting for an open progressive. I had to get up to Madison to even find the research materials I wanted for writing school papers and I still recall being surrounded by 3 or 4 of my scout masters who asked me point blank “Are you a communist?” (Hey, its scary when you’re a 120lb 15 year old and they’re all these huge guys with beards.)
Fortunately, I had a number of instructors who were honest enough to grade me on the merits of my writing rather than the political point of view being expressed. All in all, my school system may have been conservative, but there were quite a few quality teachers. I’m fortunate that it is easier for me to count the really bad teachers I had than the really good ones (High School American History and Chemistry teachers were truly awful. My geometry, algebra, calculus, earth science, biology, physics, ancient history, modern history and the future, advanced literature and speech teachers were all excellent. Bummer about the two bad ones – Chemistry is now my weak science and my American History still has more gaps than I’d like. I can’t even imagine how she could have turned such a fascinating subject so dry and torturous.)
I do think the school had quite a bit of community support and I can’t help but imagine that stemmed to some extent from the competitiveness of the athletic teams. As a member of pep band and marching band, I got to go up to Madison for state championship games many many times. I’m sure I don’t have a completely accurate picture, but my view of it at the time was that everyone was religious, many were vets, everyone was Republican or non-political, and if you believed in abortion, you were seen as weak and immoral. Most pregnant teens just had their kids and dead ended (or took care of things in a way that no one would ever know – there was a planned parenthood in town for a while).
I also recall that we had a lot of racism. The city council wouldn’t let Swiss Colony expand at one point because of community concerns that it would mean more blacks coming up from Freeport IL to work and David Duke did quite well in his presidential primary. I recall my best friend and fellow Eagle Scout referring to “Porch Monkeys” and “Spear Chuckers” although he did think Apollo Creed was pretty cool in Rocky. We did have one black family and one “mulatto” kid who’s white mother lived in town. They were all treated fairly well. Bobby was an athlete and could break dance, CC was quite pretty and a great athlete, and Andy was really smart and a super nice guy.
In any case, I remember my high school being defined by conservative values (the good and the bad), pretty good teachers, pretty authoritarian administration, letter jackets, FFA jackets and a lot of fist fights in the spring.
Btw, re: home-schooling – there’s a lot of what we call “crunchy Christians” or “organic Christians” down around there. Most of them home school. Most of them receive excellent educations and are very good people.
If more of Christ’s followers behaved like they do, I might have considered being one.
January 19th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
January 19th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Phaedrus:
I had to get up to Madison to even find the research materials I wanted for writing school papers and I still recall being surrounded by 3 or 4 of my scout masters who asked me point blank “Are you a communist?”
Well? How did you answer? Don’t keep us in the dark, here.
My geometry, algebra, calculus, earth science, biology, physics, ancient history, modern history and the future, advanced literature and speech teachers were all excellent.
And what’s this about the future? How does it turn out?
January 19th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
Good Lord Angry Clown. Dinosaur fossils are not fake. Dinosaurs co-existed with Adam and Eve a few days after the earth was created 6000 years ago and their fossils were created after the great flood created the Grand Canyon.
January 19th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Jeez, Doug. As Christopher Moltisanti noted in The Sopranos, “T-Rex in the Garden of Eden? Adam and Eve would be runnin’ all the time scared s***less!”
January 19th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
Terry:
“Are you a communist?”
Well? How did you answer? Don’t keep us in the dark, here.
I was trying to recall the exact answer I gave but it was a somewhat incoherent rambling about the difference between communism and socialism and that I liked the public library didn’t they? It more or less resulted in glazed over eyes and the conclusion that while I was a bit off, I wasn’t really a red.
“… the future …”
And what’s this about the future? How does it turn out?
*heh* That was an awesome class. Basically a look at past views of what the future (then the present) would be and making extrapolations (then) current views of the future (which I guess’d be now).
I can’t recall exactly what the conclusions were but I’ve got a vauge disappointment that neither the flux capacitor nor the Mr. Fusion run car have been developed yet. 1.21 GIGAWATTS!!!
jbauer:
First, you ignored your “money” complaint was a cannard, now you ignore the factors of money, availability to provide the time to home school and the individual attention it implies, and frankly the general reality that folks who are upper echelon economically, for the most part, are also at least well above average intellectually (certainly FAR above the average tested range for the poor).
Again, I’m not sure about around here, but the “Crunchy Christians” by my parents are almost always quite poor from an economic standpoint. I mean, really really poor from most people’s point of view. They just don’t seem to have the same opinion of how much they need compared to most Americans. They sew, knit, garden, can, bake, woodwork, repair vehicles, raise animals, spin, etc. and don’t really need all that much beyond the basics to get by so one job generally covers the taxes and essentials.
Its a state of sufficiency in poverty that is difficult to comprehend living in an urban area. The ability to take care of ones own needs is much reduced in an urban environment and the basic background expenses seem to be much higher.
So homeschooling is certainly preferable, and has distinct advantages, and among them are, it starts with a nearly certainly more capable student, on average, and a teacher who is also likely brighter and more dedicated to the specific outcome of his or her student than the average public OR PRIVATE school teacher.
I’d disagree with the inherent greater capability of the student or the teacher. However, you’re absolutely right about the teacher tending to be more dedicated to the specific outcome of the students.
I believe there is a division point however. I don’t have any data to back this up – its a gut feeling based on my own life experience:
I believe that being in a small class with a competent and interested teacher and motivated students will score higher on average than the same students studying individually with well educated parents.
I believe there is a synergy to learning that benefits from skilled educators and a class of peers (especially if peers are encouraged to tutor and help each other), but that it will start to break down once classes get much above 8-15 students (quantity dependent on the students and the teacher) and certainly fails with a dull, uninspired, or uninspiring teacher.
This belief is based on my experience as a student but moreso on my experience taking classes in scouts, teaching them as a camp councelor, taking classes of varying sizes in college and acting as a tutor in college. Think “Dead Poets Society” – that group studying together and inspired by a good instructor learned far more than all but the most interested of them could have hoped to have learned solo.