Students Punished for Personal Websites

"Earlier this year, a freshman at a Catholic high school in the suburbs of New York City was expelled because of the contents of a personal Web site he created at home." The New York Times is running a good story (free reg. required) on the latest "discipline issue": students daring to express themselves on websites and saying things their schools might not approve of. Includes a link to the Student Press Law Center which looks like a great resource for students in a jam.

Comments

Off campus behavior.

[technos]

Huh? Let me get this straight. A Catholic school expels a student, based on a outside website, because the website 'doesn't meet with proper Catholic values'? Did I just warp back to 1690? I could understand expulsion for a threatening website, given the current political environment, but this seems to be a 'because we can'. Did they honestly expect NOT to be sued?

When I attended private schools back in the eighties, schools adhered to the guidelines they themselves had set down. (otherwise, I'd have been expelled numerous times for my antics) If the guideline makes no mention of punishment based on an individuals extra-curricular exercise of free speech, DON'T EXPECT TO BE ABLE TO CENSOR THE STUDENT!

At this point, the school is claiming 'We're not a public school; we don't have to respect free speech'. What muddies the water is that they recieve government funding, and are expected to adhere to the 'public school' rules or face revocation of funding.

I hope the school loses the lawsuit, has it's funding cut AND has to re-admit the student. Serves it right.
Plus, First post?

The decline of School Newspapers

[Big Jojo]

One of the things I found most interesting in that article was the note about how many of the schools are creating their own problem by too-aggressive control of school newspapers.

it usta was ... that students had real outlets at school. Not so much any more. And when students actually display some adaptability (and initiative) by putting a website together ... explusion!

You'd think those school administrators would just try to grow up.

Re:The decline of School Newspapers

[Kyrrin]

> One of the things I found most interesting in that article was the note about
> how many of the schools are creating their own problem by too-aggressive
> control of school newspapers.

I actually ran into that problem when I was in high school -- nearly seven years ago -- and editing the school newspaper. We sold ads to offset the cost of printing (the school board didn't give us nearly enough funding) and had accepted an ad from Planned Parenthood that was, in my opinion, very tasteful and emphasized PP as a last resort -- that one should visit teachers, clergy, parents, etc. first. The school board tried to get us to pull it. Now, PP had been one of our staunchest advertisers for years, and they had a very expensive half-page ad contract for the full year, and we were /not/ going to let that slip away from us -- and besides, most of us were rabid free-speech advocates.

It took four phone calls to the Student Press Law Center, one to the ACLU, and a *lot* of conversations with the school board before they would back down. And for the rest of the year, they made it a point of trying to censor the paper whenever they could. We had an entire print run confiscated and burned one month.

And of course, since the entire editorial staff at that point was a bunch of hopeless liberals, myself included, that made us mad. And we started pushing the line as much as we could, purposely offending the administration in such a way that they could /not/ say anything about it. We did a three-month series on personal freedoms and liberties in American high schools, highlighting just how many of your rights you sign away when you set foot on their property.

By the end of the year, we were on first-name terms with one of the lawyers at the SPLC. :)

Looking back at it, we had a lot of fun that year. It was stressful, and annoying, and very aggrivating, but it taught us a lot of important lessons -- namely, that until you stand up for your rights, those rights can be slowly bled away from you. It was a very valuable experience for me -- but in the ideal world, it wouldn't have been necessary.

And if anyone had tried to /touch/ a personal and non-school-related web site, I would have been screaming /bloody murder/. My sympathy and support goes to the individual involved.

The Inquisition (what a show)

[asheris]

It would help to know what exactly the student had on his web page that the school found so objectionable. I can't help but think that their refusal to say what it was is an indication that the content was something the majority of people would not find bothersome. Let me guess- it had something to do with sex, probably birth control or homosexuality? (The usual panics for the Catholic Church.)

From the article, it sounds like this was not an issue of threatened violence. It was not even a matter of the student saying rude or inappropriate things about teachers, students, or school employees.

It was a matter of the student posting things on a web page that did not agree with "Catholic values". We of course were not told whether the student in question is Catholic, simply that he attends (attended) a private Catholic school. If he's not Catholic, do they have any reason at all for insisting he must share their thoughts and beliefs?

Schools exit to teach thinking skills. Reading, writing, mathematics, logic. There are rules to be followed- be courteous, no violence, perhaps a dress code. That list of rules should not include "you must either believe in or never speak against X."

Especially off-campus. What a student does outside of school hours and off school property, unless illegal, should have no bearing on that person's status as a student.

Heaven forbid someone have an opinion different from "The Church"... My god, the world could end if that happened! Individual thought is evil and must be stomped out!

*snort*