School is not for making intellectual points
Published December 27th, 2007Therefore, school is inherently pointless. At least that seems to be the message in Janesville, Wis. Seems a student “tried to make some sort of point” by ripping up a bible during a classroom presentation, saying it was a “piece of crap.” Well then.
Before I get into this, let’s all understand that, yes, in a school setting a student does not have the same freedoms they do off the school grounds. That is a must. The school is allowed to make decisions to protect the safety of the students. Even if you are 18, you simply don’t have the right to bear arms on a school campus. It is a public place, but it is also a protected place - much like a courthouse. There are restrictions on what a minor (or an 18-19 year old adult) can and cannot do. That is very clear.
However, that does not mean that a student has no rights. And the school admits this, they said, “that ripping up a Bible is constitutionally protected” - damn right it is. So is ripping up the Koran or the Origin of Species or God is Not Great (as long as you’re not ripping up the school’s copy, that’s destruction of property). Was the kid a jerk the way he presented his views? Yeah. But there’s no law against being a jerk.
Here is where the story really starts to tick me off though.
As many Parker High School students get ready for Christmas break, junior Elle Jacobson is at home and will not be returning like her friends.
“I have never felt threatened like that in a classroom before,” said Jacobson.”
This boy got up and his visual aid was a Bible and a book. And he got up and started his speech by saying ‘Now, this piece of crap’ and pointed to the Bible.”
Jacobson said that she quickly felt threatened.
Elle Jacobson’s parents are looking for another school for their daughters.
Oh. My. God. Are you freaking kidding me? Did the boy single out this girl? No, doesn’t say that. Did he verbally and directly assault her? Nope, not a mention of that either. Grow some backbone. There was no threat.
“It’s not about free speech. It’s not about necessarily about the Bible although that was disgusting, too. This is about the vicious, vile manner in the way this kid went about this and tried to make some kind of point,” Paul Jacobson said.
OK, so you’re pulling your daughters out of school because ONE kid perpetrated an act of violence….against an inanimate object. Holy crap. Personally, I was pretty offended when people told me I was going to hell for not believing in their religion. And that was a direct verbal message to me. Never once did I think of changing schools. If a kid got up in class and starting talking about how great God was to them and how atheists are vile and disgusting and pieces of crap, I’d be really pissed off, but I wouldn’t change schools, or pull my kid out of school. People in this world are idiots. Teenagers will do rash things. That’s what they do.
The student who tore up the bible was punished, though the school is cryptic as to why. Probably trying not to make a bigger mess of it. Though I can see why - the manner in which he made his statement was unwise and impolite. He needs to learn that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. But no one should be changing schools over it - that’s just pathetic. The only person who was probably in danger of violence was the kid who ripped up the bible, not the other way around.
Just remember - kids shouldn’t be trying to make points in school - they should just babble pointlessly. Otherwise, students might have to transfer away to avoid those scary thoughts.
meh. there’s no law about being a jerk, but i believe i’ve been sent to detention for it before. mountains out of molehills maybe?
sure, of course you were sent to detention for being a jerk - but i’d wager no one pulled their kids out of school because of you, assuming you never directly threatened anyone.