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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMiddle School Students Plan To Break Dress Code: Principal Screams Terrorism
Terrorism has become a ridiculous catch-allWhat?
"To me it was just a bunch of 13-year-olds acting crazy," said Christopher Cagle, the father of a suspended honor roll student.
Cagle said the principal called the students actions terroristic threats. He said the principal was too swift and severe with the punishment.
Violating the school dress code is indeed a violation of school policy, but to elevate it to a level where one could be indefinitely detained, without charge or trial, is going way too far. Just in case, we contacted the school to see what they had to say about the incident, asking if they truly considered this on the level of a bomb threat, and they doubled down.
The principal refused to speak to the issue, but instead forwarded it to their PR manager, who responded to us. Though the school claims threats were made, they provide no examples or proof to back up their claims and they still want to consider this terrorism.
Luckily, they are only punishing the students by having them write long essays on why civil disobedience is a crime.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)I hope every one of those essays contain references to MLK, Rosa Parks, etc.
csziggy
(34,133 posts)Especially Thoreau!
Henry David Thoreaus Resistance to Civil Government or, Civil Disobedience (1849) (http://sniggle.net/TPL/index5.php?entry=rtcg) was the foundation of much of modern civil resistance and influenced Ghandi.
bigmonkey
(1,798 posts)It's Gandhi. Just like it's not Warshington.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)was worth paying the cost for. Calling it terrorism is going way overboard and makes the school look ridiculous.
Orsino
(37,428 posts)enlightenment
(8,830 posts)When I was in 6th grade - attending an overseas military base school - we decided to protest not being allowed to wear trousers to school (girls wore skirts or dresses). This was a Long Time Ago.
So, we had a mass demonstration, wearing our trousers and walking around the front of the school building carrying signs.
Nobody suggested we were terrorists - or even breaking the law . . . and the school decided to let us wear trousers (not jeans) because they were pleased that we had developed a plan and carried it through.
LWolf
(46,179 posts)reference Thoreau.
Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it.
RufusTFirefly
(8,812 posts)"Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was." -- David Byrne
Babel_17
(5,400 posts)If we back up to that, and look at root causes, I think we might see a promising avenue of investigation.
Yeah, I noticed that too. Who needs a Phys Ed teacher when you can have a PR Manager, amiright?
Gormy Cuss
(30,884 posts)The principal's reaction was meh. I think there was a stern warning that the school committee set policy and we'd all be in big trouble if we did it again.
But then, it was pre-911, pre -"zero tolerance" policies. You know, before people lost their minds.
GeorgeGist
(25,316 posts)In ReaganWorld