[Winona Online Democracy] Wow, what a great discussion on Winona Online Democracy about the "hot button issue" at the High School.
This is definately not a simple issue. If people are not comfortable with complexity or democracy, this topic is not for you. Here are some of my perspectives: --- 1. The High School Administration has done an incredible job with this very sticky issue. I am not an administrative toady but I honestly believe the administration is doing the best that can be expected of anyone when dealing with this no-win situation. They have been working very hard on finding compromises and alternatives with Carrie. The administration did not know about the pin until a (female) secretary and (female) teacher complained about the pin that Carrie was wearing. The administration was not cracking down on buttons or sending out the thought police to monitor what that students were wearing. It was brought to their attention by staff who felt offended by the pin. --- 2. The Supreme Court has said that high school students have freedom of speech rights. The Supreme Court has also said high school students do not have freedom of speech and privacy rights in some cases. School Boards, administrators, teachers, and the students themselves are caught in the middle. It's important for the School Board and Superintendent to communicate with and give clear directions to the High School administration. I was out of town on Thursday night so I missed the School Board meeting. If anyone saw the meeting, was anything said about the issue? --- 3. This is not a traditional male-female power struggle. The High School has a female principal, all female counselors, and we have a School Board that is majority female. It all makes for an even more interesting situation. --- 4. Winona Senior High School is a relatively big school. Big schools have advantages and big schools have disadvantages. One of the disadvantages is that the issues of stability and control usually trump freedom of speech rights. The size of a system affects how much democracy and freedoms that are allowed within the system. Some ancient Greek city states believed that democracy was directly related to the size of the city state. Beyond a certain size, democracy and freedom began to wither away. This is probably too big of a question for an already very complex issue but are our schools set up to optimize efficiency and lower costs or are they set up to maximize freedom of expression and individual learning? The ol' management vs. education push and pull forces at work. --- 5. Carrie has many powerful and very valid points on her side. This is how social change has almost always happened throughout history. Someone has to be the brave trailblazer that pushes the herd to see injustices and prejudices that were always there but that most people were not willing to talk about, let alone address. Should people have waited until no one was offended by the ideas of ending slavery, women voting, interracial marriages, etc. before they tried to improve the status quo? The domestic and international violence directed toward women will not end until the silence and shame ends. Women and men need to speak up and have the courage to call a spade a spade. --- 6. On the other hand, the High School administration has many valid points as well. I'm not usually a fence sitter but this is a tough one. If Carrie can wear that button, can the students who want to wear their white supremist and neo-nazi shirts be allowed to wear them? Will the community and courts allow a distinction to be made between different kinds of buttons and statements? It gets real complex then. I think Carrie being able to wear the button in public is an obvious no brainer. I strongly support her right to wear it in public, outside of school. But, unfortunately, high school is not the general public. A high school is not a college campus. A high school is an interesting social construct. We have about 1,400 diverse young adults ranging in ages from 14-18 in one very tight space. Talk about a hormonal crock pot that we have artificially created. The students are all wonderful just the way they are but they are all at very different places in their social maturity development and critically thinking abilities. This button issue could be a wonderful "teachable moment" when it comes to women's rights, freedom of speech, and high school student's rights and responsitibilities in general. Should Carrie's freedom of speech rights be curtailed because some immature teenage boys will snicker? Do students have to leave their freedom of speech rights at the high school front door? At the same time, it could be a situation that causes all kinds of goofy and aggresive responses and "distracts" students from their normal lessons. The button is NOT sleezy or pornograhic. Matter of fact, it's the exact opposite of those things. But the vast majority of students and staff are not familiar with the Vagina Monologues or the deeper issues the show is about and they will take the button the wrong way. Yes, I can see a group of boys making their own buttons that say, "I love my penis" becaue they are not familiar with the sexism, shame, and violence directed toward women in our society. There is how we think the world should be and then there is reality. The High School administration is caught between a rock and a hard place. --- It's a tough issue. Carrie is trying her best to be respectful and true to her beliefs. The High School administration is trying their best to both protect freedom of speech rights but also allow for a safe and quiet learning environment that is free for disruptions and offensive situations. (If people only knew what the administration has to deal with on some days!) Democracy is a messy thing. Instead of this debate being a bad or terrible thing, isn't this precisely what democracy is all about? Rights, responsibilities, order, control, safety, freedom, etc.? Should we run away or try to hide from the issue because it makes some of us uncomfortable or should we welcome it as a chance to address some very important, but compex issues in our democracy? Dwayne Voegeli April 23, 2005 -------- >From: "Phil Carlson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <[email protected]> >Subject: RE: [Winona] Students' freedom of speech >Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:19:34 -0500 > >[Winona Online Democracy] > >I believe our schools should be models for the larger society for which we >are preparing students. In that context, what is the standard for speech, >dress, behavior, etc? These are complex questions, but we need to answer >them - our children are watching. How popular does an idea have to be for >it to be acceptable? How unpopular, or how many people does it have to >offend, to be unacceptable? Or is comfort the standard by which we judge >ideas? > >There was a time and a place in this country where students and their >parents were "uncomfortable" seeing black students in the hallways with >white students, and with them socializing and dating. > >My personal opinion (I'm not on the faculty or any committee who has to deal >with this) is that students should be able to express their views as long as >their behavior does not hurt others in some clear way, or disrupt the basic >flow of activities in the school. > >Phil Carlson, Mpls > >_______________________________________________ >This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy >All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. >No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. >To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit >http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona >Any problems or suggestions can be directed to >mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at > http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org > ------------ Dwayne Voegeli Winona County Commissioner (507) 453-9012 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 359 Pleasant Hill Dr. Winona, MN 55987 ------------ _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org
