Dean, Terry. "OPRF Adds Cops to Stymie Second Student Protest over Tardy Policy." Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest(online), May 6, 2010. http://www.wednesdayjournalonline.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=17413
The last weeks of school are always tough for kids and teachers alike. Tempers are frayed, people are tired, and frankly, we all need a break from each other. Sometimes we do things that make the situation worse because we're too fried to think things through.
At a local high school, Oak Park-River Forest, administration decided to begin actually enforcing the existing tardy policy in early May after problems had built for the entire year, installing a system that tracks tardies using ID cards. According to the school, tardies and hall wandering were out of hand with students rambling into classes at will.
Led by the senior class, students responded by organizing protest, using FaceBook and other social networking sites. They planned to clog a hall with students to inhibit passage, so that everyone would be late to class. Their intent was to overwhelm the tracking systems, so that enforcement would fall apart. On the first day of the protest, kids behaved like kids at a concert; the hall was shut down, but students were also hanging and shrieking into the stairwells and body surfing. Citing concerns with student safety and security, the Administration responded by having police on hand for the threatened second day of the protest.
Here's where I'll start rambling as I try to figure this out. I believe in free speech. Student free speech is protected as indicated by the Tinker vs. DesMoine decision. School officials are legally responsible for the safety of students in school. The planned protest had a peaceful intent (even if I really believe that students should actually get to class on time, so the purpose was sort of immature. Kids sort of are.) Not all students were misbehaving, but body surfing in a world of terazzo and metal lockers is pretty dangerous.
So at what point, if any, do student rights collide with the legal responsibilities and obligations of a school to provide a safe environment that enhances learning? Does the age of the student involved matter? Are students entitled to protest anything/everything? Bad lunches, I get, but is it ok to protest the amount of homework a teacher assigns or the cell phone policy? Sure hope I can figure this out before I tackle the Little Brother essay.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I've heard and very much agree with the adage (I'm not sure if that's the appropriate word, but it will have to work for now) that one person's rights end where another's begin. The students body surfing would not necessarily be outside of their rights except for the fact that they are endangering the safety of others as well. (I have caught the stray foot of a crowd surfer to my head at a concert before. It is no fun.) But, kids are immature and their concerns for others have to be developed over time. I'm not sure they would get that their actions could impact others.
ReplyDeleteWow Linda,
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting post! I have finished Little Brother and all I could think when you mentioned that administration was tracking student tardies was about the book. I loved that you connected this article to the book. You brought up some great points about student rights and safety which I have no idea how to answer!
I wonder if part of the problem is the attendance records that the school has to report to the state. Also, as Heather stated, if it infringes upon another student, is it fair? What if a student wanted/needed to get to class on time (for whatever reason)? In addition, that much crowding and clogging would make it easy for kids to "jump" another student and consequently, make it very difficult for adults to get in the crowd to break up any fights.
ReplyDeleteDid they in any way target students who initiated the movement via Facebook? That would most definitely be a violation of their intellectual freedom. I can definitely understand the idea of wanting security and safety at school, and that would be the place to handle problems that might harm that, but going to the "root" of the movement on Facebook, would be a serious problem. I think the importance of what we should focus on is the expression of ideas, and freedom to do so, even if these are minors in high school.
ReplyDeleteSchools do have to report tardies and absences, at least in Indiana, but they are just blanket statistics.
ReplyDeleteAnd actually, I know that an Indiana court ruled last summer that statements from Facebook could be used in evidence in a murder trial in one of the Indy burbs (Mooresville? I can track it down if you're interested)
I also know that some schools monitor Facebook and MySpace as they pursue athletic code violations, and in at least one instance, a student teacher was disinvited because of postings. How do I know? I work for the school system.