There’s a scourge plaguing our nation, readers. It’s worse than homophobic attacks, it’s more devastating than AIDS, it’s far more frightening than Flotilla DeBarge waving a stilleto. It’s free speech.
Yes, we know it’s scary, but it’s a reality and it won’t go away. Luckily for American principles everywhere, Woodlan High School’s Principal Edwin Yoder has made it his duty to curb free speech at his Fort Wayne, Indiana stomping ground, ensuring that students will never, ever have to read filth such as this:
I can only imagine how hard it would be to come out as homosexual in today’s society. I think it is so wrong to look down on those people, or to make fun of them, just because they have a different sexuality than you. There is nothing wrong with them or their brain; they’re just different than you.
Oh, it burns! It burns!
Joking aside, that little excerpt came from Woodlan’s school newspaper, a paper which Principal Yoder says will now be subject to his inspection, lest journalism teacher Amy Sorrell and her pupils get the urge to spread the good gay word. Indy Star reports:
Last week, Yoder issued Sorrell a written warning for insubordination and failing to carry out her responsibilities as a teacher. He accused her of exposing students to inappropriate material and warned that she could be fired if she did not comply with his order.
Good to know our schools are being cleansed of such wretched ideals as free speech and acceptance.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Jonathon
[start satire]
Man, I can’t wait until the fascist takeover of this country is completed. Those pesky “civil rights” are really getting tiresome. Why do these people insist on their “right” to “free speech” or worse yet, “freedom of the press”?
Soon no “good American” will have to hear views that contradict those of the “Dear Leader” and the Party. Uppity feminists, slimy sodomites and those damn Quakers will soon find their place behind barbed wire in a detention camp in Utah. Soon no one will be left to challenge the establishment and infect our nation with their “freethinking” ideology.
[end satire]
dizzy spins
“…a paper which Principal Yoder says will not be subject to his inspection, lest journalism teacher Amy Sorrell and her >pupils get the urge to spread the good gay word.
I think you mean “will NOW be subject”
I think this blows monkey chunks too, but schoolchildren have never had the same civil rights as adults. Obviously you can’t make adults wear uniforms or stay for detention (without due process, anyway). Maybe we need a kid’s bill of rights?
Rus
Perhaps you should send principal Yoder an email expressing your displeasure with his narrow interpretation of the first amendment.
[email protected]
Luis
No wonder kids are delusional and confused when they get out of school. This fascism trend is ruining this country.
Chris
He IS within his legal rights; schools have a great deal of leeway under federal law with regard to school-sponsored speech (which school newspapers are considered to be). The only exception to this is California, which has state law extending greater free speech rights to student journalists than they have under federal law.
That doesn’t mean this guy isn’t a jerk or what he’s doing is the right thing to do, by any means — just that it’s allowed under the law. Obviously, he’s still a gigantic twit.
In general, though, students in public schools do have more free speech rights in general than most people assume. The speech just can’t be school-sponsored or interrupt instructional time. What would be awesome would be for someone to start a fund to help these kids publish an independent paper of their own, because if the school isn’t paying for it, the principal can’t say a damn thing about it or stop the kids from distributing it at school (as long as they do it between classes, at lunchtime, etc.).
AKN
Several first ammendment-related supreme court decisions have come from lawsuits regarding school-sponsored publications, usually beginning with students suing school districts for censorship, essentially.
The oft-cited Tinker v. DesMoines ICSD (1969) granted first-ammendment protection to student expression in public schools, provided that expression does not cause a “material disruption” of the school’s “legitimate pedagogical goals.”
Later, the decision in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988) held that unless a school-sponsored publication has been established as an open forum for student expression, it can be subject to a lower level of first ammendment protection and administrators can impose some limits on content.
If the kids in Indiana file a suit, I doubt it would stand against the Hazelwood standard because it seems the principal’s review of that school’s paper is, unfortunately, a standard practice, meaning the paper is not an open forum for student expression and thus not protected to the fullest extent by the first ammendment.
Sigh.
phil
Leave him a message. He’s ducking phone calls, but you can leave a voice mail message: Principal Phone: 219-446-0290, ext 7401
Dean
This is surprisingly relevant to me, personally.
I am editor-in-chief of my high school’s newspaper. I wrote an almost excessively long article entitled “Gay is okay” which basically justified homosexuality as natural and acceptable, and attacked the arguments against it, including Christianity. Oh boy, were those Christians angry.
I put it on the front page because it’s news to some people and I could (I’m in California and do most of the layout). Because I live in a somewhat conservative suburbia, there were many complaints, including two hilariously Christian emails from grandparents in Alaska. A lot of the complaints were that stuff like that shouldn’t be in a high school newspaper, others didn’t think it should have been on the front page. My “editorial” (I still don’t think “gay is okay” isn’t fact) should probably have gone in the opinion section, but I would stick it on the front again because I feel it’s an important issue.
The administration did get a little mad, if only because the complaints. One administrator did want to look over the paper before it went to the printer, but the journalism teacher declined. This is the first year that journalism has received essentially no funding from the school; we must raise the money ourselves to pay for the paper so there is little incentive to allow censorship.
Unfortunate for the Indiana kids, they don’t have as much freedom of the press as we do in California.
John
I’m glad posters included his phone number and email address. It saves me the time to look for it. Anyway, I wish all “reporters” in the gay media would include the offender’s contact info so that we could tag team their asses. Kind of like the old phone tree way of organizing protest. We all need to speak against ignorance. I know the people at this site don’t like some gay rights groups ‘cuase they’re a little too overprotective, but it’s needed. Just look at how they took down Tim Hardaway – a washed up basketball player that had to change the name of his car wash. Just think of what we could do to a president if we all worked togeter:)
Emily
so yea i go to woodlan and this is such a big thing for our school. see yoder has never talked to any of the students and now he is trying to say what goes in the newspaper. to tell you the truth i have never heard him say one word. the only time i see him is when he is in the lunch room drinking a diet pepsi
Andy Harley
In response to John’s comment (#9), is it the job of reporters to include contact details? In the “commentary” article I wrote when I first heard (via the AP article), fact and opinion were combined.
Anyone reading the article that Queerty linked to, or any of the many articles that have appeared in the media in the last 24 hours, who felt strongly enough to take the matter up with the school (which was named, along with the city) then it is easy to find contact details – it took me less than two minutes to confirm that the school exisited (and if the spelling was correct – “Woodlan” could have been an AP typo with a missing “d”) and to get their phone number.
Had the article been ‘normal reporting’ from a press release issued by an organisation campaigning against the Principal’s edict, then including contact details would be a different matter.
delta
For Dean in post #8… How young should kids be talked to about sex and sexual feelings? The paper serves both a high school and a middle school with kids as young as 12. Does this change anything in your opinion?
Paul Raposo
Delta, I appreciate your concern; but you do realize that gay adults were once gay children, don’t you? The fact is, most adults knew they were gay at the age of twelve. If an article in a school paper can help one of those kids feel less shameful, or even hateful of themselves, then I think that’s a good thing. And if an article in a school paper can help one straight kid feel less hateful, or indifferent towards gay kids, then I think that’s also a good thing. Clealry this school administratore beleives that censoring ideas will beat back the acceptance of gay people and will do everything in his power to stop that acceptance
Matt
I actually went to this high school and while this guy should have been a little more open-minded he is not the hate monger the media is making him out to be. He may be slightly misguided, but he truly is a nice person.
Also, phil said:
“Leave him a message. He’s ducking phone calls, but you can leave a voice mail message: Principal Phone: 219-446-0290, ext 7401”
The correct area code is 260, not 219.
Paul Raposo
Matt, how many other articles has this nice person censored? How many teachers has he threatened to fire, if they did not carry out his demands? Perhaps if you know him so well, you should call, or email him and let him know what you think.
Matt
Paul,
As far as I know this is the first occurrence of something like this. Though, since I have now graduated, I can’t be 100% sure of that. My younger sister still attends school there and I’ll certainly be getting her viewpoint on all of this next time I speak with her.
There is definitely a double-standard going on here, though. From what I’ve heard, this whole ordeal arose because the school likes to “filter out sexually-oriented content” in the newspaper. However, in the same issue there was also an article regarding teen pregnancy that not only went unchallenged by this guy, but was apparently also his Principal’s idea.
While I am still proud of where I come from, I am extremely embarrassed for and ashamed of Dr. Edwin Yoder. I’m really hoping that this doesn’t make my hometown look like a complete joke.
Delta
Paul, I don’t think the intent of the principal was “to beat back the acceptance of gays.” I think a bigger issue here is that Woodland is in a conservative area. The article was going to stir things up with parents and the school board. Yoder was just covering for himself, or forced to. I question if this incident was reported accurately or was blown up to make a better story as noted above.
I do hope that someone got a better sense of themself as a result of the article. I’m sure any gay student at Woodland is under tremendous pressure. We all could use a dose of being more accepting.
Matt
Delta,
Gay students at that school are under pressure? You bet your ass they are. I remember one gay student who wanted to bring his boyfriend from another school to his senior prom, but the other boys threatened to “kick his ass” if he did. So, he ended up going with a female friend instead.
Kids can be assholes.