A junior at Peachtree Ridge High School was handed a five-day suspension for singing lyrics of an untoward nature to the tune "On Top Of Ol' Smoky."
As reported in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the girl was humming the tune during a German class wherein a game allowed for open and free discussion. When a friend asked her about the song, she sang the fractured lyrics:
"On top of Ol' Smoky, all covered with blood, I shot my poor teacher with a .44 slug."
According to the teacher, this little ditty disrupted the entire class.
His claim was the girl threatened him because he had given her a bad grade.
She said that they had discussed the grade earlier, but it was no reason to become violent.
The story went on to say the student and teacher have had disagreements in the past, even to point of prompting her parents to request she be transferred out of his class.
Additionally, Peachtree is the student's school of choice; the board has now banned her from attending there her senior year. She is being forced to transfer, after three years, to a school closer to her home.
What she sang and when she sang it, how she sang and whom she sang it to are all too sketchy to make a solid judgment. Neither being a witness nor knowing all of the details, I'm not laying blame on her or the teacher. However, when I was a kid we used to sing songs and tell riddles that were far worse than that one - both in sexual innuendo and potentially violent content - and nobody ever got suspended for using language.
Rapped on the knuckles with a yardstick, highly likely. Detention, probably. Public humiliation, of course.
But a black mark on one's "Permanent Record" for words - never. (One good thing about Catholic grade school, the only "Permanent Record" on any of us was ethereal.)
So much for teaching our youth that the 1st Amendment protects all Americans' Right to Freedom of Expression.
At the same time, in the same county, one mother -- out of who knows how many thousands - made a stand to make certain censorship becomes embedded in our way of life. You remember, just like in the good ol' days of the National Socialists.
This brave, lone woman had somehow managed to turn the screws tightly enough into Georgia's largest school district to force the board to actually vote on whether or not the "Harry Potter" books should remain available in school libraries.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the mother of three children who attend J.C. Magill Elementary in Loganville, GA wanted the books banned because they, in her opinion, glorify witchcraft.
Thus, turn back the calendar to satisfy one person's unenlightened 17th Century Salem, Massachusetts thinking and force it upon thousands of other peoples' children.
As reported in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the girl was humming the tune during a German class wherein a game allowed for open and free discussion. When a friend asked her about the song, she sang the fractured lyrics:
"On top of Ol' Smoky, all covered with blood, I shot my poor teacher with a .44 slug."
According to the teacher, this little ditty disrupted the entire class.
She said that they had discussed the grade earlier, but it was no reason to become violent.
The story went on to say the student and teacher have had disagreements in the past, even to point of prompting her parents to request she be transferred out of his class.
Additionally, Peachtree is the student's school of choice; the board has now banned her from attending there her senior year. She is being forced to transfer, after three years, to a school closer to her home.
What she sang and when she sang it, how she sang and whom she sang it to are all too sketchy to make a solid judgment. Neither being a witness nor knowing all of the details, I'm not laying blame on her or the teacher. However, when I was a kid we used to sing songs and tell riddles that were far worse than that one - both in sexual innuendo and potentially violent content - and nobody ever got suspended for using language.
Rapped on the knuckles with a yardstick, highly likely. Detention, probably. Public humiliation, of course.
But a black mark on one's "Permanent Record" for words - never. (One good thing about Catholic grade school, the only "Permanent Record" on any of us was ethereal.)
So much for teaching our youth that the 1st Amendment protects all Americans' Right to Freedom of Expression.
At the same time, in the same county, one mother -- out of who knows how many thousands - made a stand to make certain censorship becomes embedded in our way of life. You remember, just like in the good ol' days of the National Socialists.
This brave, lone woman had somehow managed to turn the screws tightly enough into Georgia's largest school district to force the board to actually vote on whether or not the "Harry Potter" books should remain available in school libraries.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the mother of three children who attend J.C. Magill Elementary in Loganville, GA wanted the books banned because they, in her opinion, glorify witchcraft.
Thus, turn back the calendar to satisfy one person's unenlightened 17th Century Salem, Massachusetts thinking and force it upon thousands of other peoples' children.
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
