Quote:
Originally posted by iamvladd
And the news just said that he'd be allowed to say it among kids who have a permission slip signed by their parents who approve.
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Well that's ****ing stupid. So they're frightened that parents would bitch about their kids hearing a pro-gay speech? Why is it such a big deal when the school itself isn't even giving the speech (although they should be), but a
student?
THIS IS NOT A HUGE ISSUE, PS 195 IN QUEENS, QUIT OVERREACTING.
Not only that, but I'm beginning to question the legality of banning the speech outright, which is probably why they ended up allowing it -- because if they'd have kept it banned, there's a good chance that the school would get their asses sued as per the Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines, depending on the nature of whatever program the speech was a part of.
The only reasonable reason a school has to not allow free speech is if the speech has the potential to incite violence, which I sincerely doubt, especially given it's a ****ing elementary school.
Quote:
Originally posted by The Supreme Court decision regarding Tinker v. Des Moines
The Court held that in order for school officials to justify censoring speech, they "must be able to show that [their] action was caused by something more than a mere desire to avoid the discomfort and unpleasantness that always accompany an unpopular viewpoint," allowing schools to forbid conduct that would "materially and substantially interfere with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school."
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If any of you guys have schools that violate your free speech rights, remember this court case. This is something that really peeves me off.
At least he can give the speech though, regardless of the school making a huge deal over it and requiring permission slips. There's technically nothing illegal about that, although it is stupid, because schools shouldn't cater to the bigotry of parents; if we did that, we'd have to allow students to have their parents opt out of learning about women's suffrage, the civil rights movement, and all sorts of other movements involving the rights of minorities and/or the oppressed. Of course, it's easier to cater to parental bigotry when the staff itself is comprised of bigots, which is an unfortunate reality of many of the schools in this country.