CALIFORNIA YANKEE

Don't Say "Gay"

When I heard about this on a radio news broadcast this morning, I got so upset I nearly had an accident.

When I got to a computer I checked the radio WCBS website and found this Associated Press story about seven-year old Marcus McLaurin who was punished for telling a classmate his mother was "gay." Initially I was not going to use the young boy’s name, but it is already prominently displayed in tens of newspaper articles.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, Marcus was waiting in line to go to recess when a classmate asked him about his mother and father. Marcus responded that he didn't have a mother and father; instead he has two mothers. When the other child asked why, Marcus explained that it was because his mother is gay. The other child then asked what that meant, and Marcus explained, "Gay is when a girl likes another girl."

His teacher, in front of Marcus' classmates, scolded Marcus saying "gay" is a bad word and he should never say it at school. Marcus was not allowed to have recess, but instead he was sent to the principal’s office. Marcus was then required to attend a special behavioral clinic at 6:45 in the morning, where he was forced to repeatedly write "I will never use the word 'gay' in school again."

As if violating a young boy’s right of free expression and telling him that it is wrong to talk about his family wasn’t bad enough, the school required Marcus to complete the this “behavior contract.” This document is worth viewing even though it takes too long to load. The teacher explained at the top of the form:
“He explained to another child that you are gay and what being gay means.”

I can’t believe any school administrator or teacher would find it appropriate to force a seven-year old to complete such a “contract.”

The “school behavior report” is also worth viewing. This “report” signed by the school's assistant principal, contains these remarks from the teacher, “Marcus decided to explain to another child in his group that his mom is gay. He told the other child that gay is when a girl likes a girl. This kind of discussion is not acceptable in my room. I feel that parents should explain things of this nature to their own children in their own way.”

Marcus’ mom was shocked by the school’s draconian overreaction:

I was concerned when the assistant principal called and told me my son had said a word so bad that he didn't want to repeat it over the phone. But that was nothing compared to the shock I felt when my little boy came home and told me that his teacher had told him his family is a dirty word.

The ACLU sent a letter to the school demanding that school officials take no further disciplinary action against Marcus because of this incident, remove all records about the discipline from Marcus’ files, assure that they will not censor, discriminate, or retaliate against Marcus or his mother and apologize to both Marcus and his mother.

The Lafayette Daily Advertiser reported today that the superintendent of the Lafayette Parish School District said Marcus was not disciplined for using the word “gay” to describe his mother and vowed that the district would not apologize.

“An apology is not due. The child was not singled out because his parent is gay.”

The superintendent strongly denied that the child was made to write repeatedly, “I will never use the word ‘gay’ in school again,” as alleged by the ACLU.

According to the Lafayette Daily Advertiser, the superintendent asserted early on Tuesday that Marcus was actually sent to a behavioral clinic a week later because he was disrupting the classroom and not completing a classroom assignment. However, he couldn’t explain why the school district didn’t have the documentation to support the real reasons for the child’s discipline. Later that day the superintendent said he couldn’t release the additional documents to the media, because they involved the discipline of a child and would violate child privacy laws.

I realize that there is always two sides to a story. Usually the truth is found somewhere between the two versions. The school looks very bad so far and the superintendent is destroying the school’s credibility.

I’m sure we haven’t heard the end of this story.

Punished for Blogging

Jon Summers of KLAS-TV in Las Vegas, reports about a story that reminds me of the Rachele Boim saga. I posted about Boim here, here, here and here. Summers reports that the Clark County School District is forcing Wesley Juhl to change high schools in the middle of his senior year. The district says Juhl didn't have the required permission he needed attend Valley were he has gone to high school until now. The district forced Julh to transfer schools after an investigation into postings Juhl made to his personal blog.

In one posting Juhl, referring to an annoying friend, wrote:

"I am letting go of all (most) my bad feelings about everyone and basing new ones off how tro day goes. Kill Alaina!"

Another post, this one about a teacher, reads:

"Shimpock is being a gaddam (expletive)! What crawled up his (expletive) lately?! News at 11."

Juhl wrote those comments on personal blog using his personal computer. The comments were written in the privacy of his home during the summer.

Juhl said:

"The dean told me that what I'd written wasn't school appropriate. He said it wasn't appropriate for a journal. I just feel like I've been violated, like they've punished me for expressing my personal opinion."

Before he was forced to transfer schools, Juhl had to serve an in-school suspension.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Juhl has never been suspended and is a fairly good student. He was part of the academically rigorous International Baccalaureate program for three years, although he chose not to continue it this year. He was also taking advanced placement classes in government and English. Juhl said he was able to pick up those classes at his new school, but had to drop his probability and statistics class because it wasn't offered at his new school. He was Valley's homecoming king this year and also was president of its drama club.

Juhl's mother told the Review Journal that she unsuccessfully appealed to Principal Ron Montoya to reverse the decision. Montoya used the Columbine massacre as an example of why discipline was necessary.

Principal Montoya’s is wrong to rely on Columbine to try and justify this unfair overreaction. A couple of sentences posted on a blog is a far cry from the maps and plans which the Columbine murderers wrote and talked about with friends.

School officials had no right to punish Juhl for comments posted on his blog using his own computer while at home. The posts can’t reasonably be interpreted as a real threat. The district will find it difficult to prove that the did not force his transfer because it did not like what Juhl posted on his blog.

Thanks to Instapundit for the pointer.

Withdrawn

Rachele Boim, the freshman expelled from Rosewell High School because of a story she wrote in her private journal, has decided she needs a fresh start. Three days after returning to school, Rachele has withdrawn.

Rachele's dad told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Emotionally, she could not cope. She was well received by students. And the faculty were fine. But she is the kid who wrote the story that was interpreted to threaten the life of a teacher, and that stigma was really difficult for her to deal with.

The incident, which included Rachel's being led out of class by an armed officer, has turned her life upside down and that a new school would be best for her.

This has had a profound adverse effect on her and the entire family. We just want her to be able to disappear. She wants to be able to disappear.

As I posted here, Rachel was expelled from Roswell High School after a teacher discovered a fictional story she had written in her personal journal. Rachel’s journal was confiscated by a teacher because Rachel passed it to another student during class. The teacher kept the journal instead of returning the it at the end of the class. The teacher read the journal then gave it to school administrators. Rachele was suspended, than expelled for “inappropriate writings.”

I am saddened by this turn of events. I had hoped that Rachele would be able to handle the notoriety that came with the unjustified overreaction of school officials to her therapeutic writings.

When schools rely upon zero tolerance policies to punish students there are lasting consequences. Students with otherwise outstanding school records are tainted forever with suspensions and expulsions in their records. They are stigmatized as dangerous and troublesome.

Schools should be required to use discretion, commonsense, and fairness in all dealings with students, especially when imposing a punishment.

Zero tolerance is causing too many undesirable and unacceptable consequences. It should be abolished or modified to require consideration of an alleged offender’s intent.

Expelled Student Returns

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports here and here that Rachel Boim returned to school yesterday.

After an absence of 2 1/2 weeks and an avalanche of publicity, Rachel Boim returned to Roswell High School on Monday, where she was assigned some new teachers.

To help give her a "fresh start," Rachel was transferred from the art class in which her journal was confiscated, said school district spokeswoman Susan Hale.

Because her story described the shooting of a math teacher, she also was assigned to a new math class.

"I don't think we feel that the [math] teacher is in immediate danger," Hale said. "It's just that this has become a very awkward situation for the teachers and the student."

As Rachel and her parents prepared to climb into their mini-van Monday for the short ride to the school, David Boim had a quick word of advice for his daughter: "No personal journals please."

Rachel is receiving a much more thorough civics education than most high school students. Will she also get an intense legal education as well?

Write On

Rachel Boim, the freshman expelled from Roswell High School because of a story she had written in her journal, was a guest columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution today. In her column, Rachel writes:

When a teacher took up my journal during fifth-period class on Oct. 7, I wasn't concerned that someone would read the story about the dreaming girl. I was more worried that some of my poems would be read.

The following day I was taken out of class by the school resource officer. At first I was really worried that something had happened to one of my parents. When I was told it was about my journal, I thought that it was ridiculous to have an armed guard escort me to the office.

My tribunal was on Oct. 22. It was a closed trial that lasted for three hours. ...I don't think it would have made a difference if the pope had testified on my behalf. The decision was made before I even entered the room.

This experience will not discourage me from writing. If anything it will motivate me to write more stories. I will just have to be more careful about where I write them and who I show them to.

Read the whole thing.

Expelled for Writing

Punishing a student for something the student writes is just wrong. If a student's writing contains specific threats against specific individuals some action may be justified. I certainly believe that schools are obliged to keep students safe. Everything I have read about the Rachel Boim case, leads me to conclude that her high school not only overreacted, but probably violated Rachel's rights.

Rachel Boim, a 14-year-old freshman, was expelled from Roswell High School in Atlanta, for what the school district calls “inappropriate writings that describe the threat of bodily harm toward a school employee." The “inappropriate writings” consisted of “a fictional tale in her private journal about a student who dreams that she kills a teacher.”

The journal entry describes an unnamed student, having a dream while asleep in class. In the dream, the student shoots an unnamed math teacher and then runs out of the classroom, only to be killed by a security guard. After that, the school bell rings and the student having the dream wakes up, picks up her books, and walks to another classroom.

Rachel’s father said “his daughter often carries her personal journal and did not have it in class as part of an assignment when it was confiscated Oct. 7.” Her art teacher took the journal during the class because Rachel was passing it to a classmate.

The art teacher kept the journal overnight, obviously read it, and the next day Rachel was taken from her second-period class by school police.

The The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Rachel was expelled after a closed, three-hour hearing. The school justified the expulsion by stating:

"Anytime the safety and security of our students and staff are put into question, we investigate the situation and, if warranted, take serious action." After reviewing the evidence, the hearing officer felt expulsion was an appropriate disciplinary response.

Rachel will be allowed to attend another school within the Fulton system until the end of the academic year, but the choice must be approved by school officials.

Eugene Volokh at The Volokh Conspiracy, asks, “if she's such a danger to people, why will she ‘be allowed to attend another school within the Fulton system until the end of the academic year?’”

Wednesday's hearing included testimony from Rachel's parents and Georgia's poet laureate. They all testified that the girl's story was nothing more than a work of fiction in a journal filled with drawings, coloring, poems, and other creative expression.

Poet Laureate David Bottoms, said that he tried to convince the hearing officer that the journal entry was a narrative that grew out of creative thought.

"In my opinion, based on my experience as a writer and with more than 20 years of teaching creative writing, this piece of work is clearly an imaginative piece, a piece of fiction -- totally non-threatening."

Rachel is an honors student in biology, French and English literature. She is the captain of her crew team and a voracious reader. She comes from a family of writers.

Rachel’s father said Rachel was treated unfairly:

I believe the school system is asking her to cede her Fourth Amendment right, her First Amendment right and her right to due process. Basically, the school system is saying they decide what is an appropriate topic to write about and what is an inappropriate topic."

He said the family moved to Roswell from Colorado three years ago. Because they lived in suburban Denver at the time, the Boims often talked at home about the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, in which two students killed 12 classmates and a teacher before killing themselves.

"Students today are very aware of the violence around them. The shootings in school, we all hear about that and they affect children. Creative writers, or people who create art, write about what's happening in their society.

At a Friday news conference, it was announced that Rachel’s expulsion was temporarily rescinded. School officials said they would allow Rachel to return to Roswell High School until the school board hears more about the incident.

I like the way Rachel’s family is handling this matter. They have gotten great coverage from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In addition there have been appearances on radio's Neal Boortz, Fox's "Hannity & Colmes" TV show, and CNN. Rachel is getting a great education on civil liberties.

In a follow-up article today, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:

Rachel can return to school Monday if she wants, but she and her parents are undecided about whether she will go back to Roswell High.

This is only good until November. They could reinstate this," said her father, David Boim. "And then we're back to square one.

Rachel has mixed emotions about returning to Roswell High.

I have a lot of really good friends who go to Roswell High School. I would definitely like to go back," she said. "But I'm nervous about how I'd be treated by the faculty and staff. I feel like they'd be constantly watching me, waiting for me to mess up.

Zero tolerance has become an excuse not to make decisions. School administrators are able to claim they are just following the rules, they are not required to make a decision.

A story in a diary or journal is a far cry from the maps and plans which the Columbine killers wrote and talked about with friends. Zero tolerance policies may have sounded like a good idea in the wake of the Columbine tragedy and other acts of school violence. With no room for reason, interpretation, or common sense, zero tolerance is mindless and wrongheaded. In Rachel’s case, it has clearly resulted in a grave injustice.

Educators are charged with teaching our children; helping them to develop into happy, inquisitive, creative, productive adults, and with keeping them safe. The bureaucrats that expelled Rachel have shown themselves to be unqualified for that task. They, not Rachel, pose a threat to the welfare and future of students.

Rachel’s journal should have been returned to her at the close of class. A private chat with her on the subject of her "passing" anything during class time would have been the appropriate reaction here.

Thanks to Best of the Web for the pointer.