I'm getting onto this thread a bit late, but ....
I think this is yet another example of reasonably well-intentioned people trying to come to grips with the interpretations of new policies. I'm sure we can all think of examples of students being expelled from school because of zero-tolerance weapons policies for having a nail file, or because of zero-tolerance drug policies for having a cold remedy.
Personally, no, I don't agree with the decision in this case. This was one student's personal choice, just as, as some here have pointed out, others may have chosen to sing about sex, drugs and rock & roll. The school was sponsoring a talent show, not the content of the songs. It would be no different for me if, say, a student stood before their class to read an assigned essay and it turned out to be "How I spent my summer vacation at a Bible study camp". It's that students choice and the school isn't advocating their position any more than if a student had read "How I spent my summer vacation volunteering for the ASPCA" or "with the Sea Cadets". That's their personal choice and no one's requiring others to do anything but display a talent or read an assignment.
However, since tinybear thinks this worthy of discussion, how about some other examples...
--"Lisa Herdahl of Ecru, Mississippi, finally decided that the daily reciting of prayers over the public address system in her children's public school was wrong. It was not merely because the prayers aligned with a specific church other than her own Lutheran church."--
(it seems the Herdahls were devout Lutherans, recently moved from Minnesota, and that Lutherans have very specific religious differences with Baptists - which the Baptist school prayers reflected)
--"She also recognized that this was a clear attempt by a government agency (the public school system) to establish a religion.
When Ms Herdahl protested, she was ignored. So she filed a lawsuit against the school system. Although firm in her Lutheran beliefs and a regular church-goer, she was branded a devil-worshipper. Because of her stand, she lost her job. Her children were harassed at school by both students and teachers. Her family was threatened with violence."--
(Death threats, to be specific)
--"This is the result of attempting to create religious uniformity through school prayers. Is this the kind of community in which we want to live, where individuals of differing religious beliefs are unwelcome?"--
She sued the local school board and won. Or how about an example related to other threads on which tinybear has participated...
--"
Jamie Nabozny is a gay youth who realized his sexual orientation when he was in the 7th grade."--
(let's see... 7th grade. About the age of puberty)
--"In 1996, at age 21, he sued his school district in Ashland, WI. He had survived years of taunts and threats from homophobic students. The school administrators gave essentially no support. They told him and his parents that he had to learn to expect abuse because he is gay. The situation predictably degenerated into violence. He was forced to take part in a simulated rape; he was urinated upon; he was kicked so many times that he had to undergo abdominal surgery."--
(You think that might be an opportunity to "CHOOSE" not to be gay, ya think?)
--"Rather than tackle the underlying problem of homophobia in the schools, the administration tried to isolate him from his fellow students. They placed him in a special-ed class; they made him travel to school on a bus with elementary school students so that his contemporaries could not attack him. Nabozny said: "Instead of teaching the value of respect for others, the school taught that if you are different you are the problem, and you are the one that has to be separated out and hidden." Part way through his eleventh year, he quit high school. His guidance counselor is quoted as saying: "I've tried to help you through this whole thing and nobody's willing to do anything." He later obtained his GED.
He won the lawsuit. Jurors agreed that 3 school officials "intentionally discriminated" against Nabozny and failed in their responsibility to protect him. By doing so, they violated his constitutional guarantee of equal protection. He won a $900,000 settlement. This is believed to be the first case in the US where school administrators were held liable for failing to deal constructively with anti-gay hatred."--
Whaddaya think, tinybear?
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