Just like there is no separation of Church and State in the Constitution – there in fact is also no separation of School and State. All children are forced to be edumicated by law, and those children – in lieu of a private alternative – are forced to go to public schools. Those public schools in turn are funded by tax dollars and mandated by the Government.
“Douchebag” blog post costs senior her student council seat
Now the 1st Amendment to the constitution – which for the sake of this argument we shall still consider valid – is there to protect the freedom of any American citizen to speak. Offensive or applauded – the freedom of speech is there to protect you from the Government, and in turn any form of tyranny which would deny you that freedom or punish you for using it.
Now, we’re not talking about a private business punishing an employee, or a private school punishing a student – both are acceptable as while you have a constitutionally protected freedom of speech – there is no constitutionally protected freedom from being punished by a private entity for being a douchebag.
This is a girl attending a public school, making a comment in her private life, being punished by that public school – removed from a democratically elected position… and then having that clear violation of her first amendment rights DEFENDED BY THE COURTS.
The distinction here is that the girl attended a PUBLIC, not a PRIVATE school. Quite frankly I want the students in my public schools to be able to call a teacher or a school board a bunch of douchebags, because in my personal experience MOST teachers and MOST school boards ARE a bunch of douchebags – regardless of the district.
The increasing occurance of public schools punishing free speech without reproach is just a sign of the times. Offensive speech by any means is now in the same classification as shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theater. Was it disrespectful? Sure. Was anyone hurt? No. I personally believe that all public funding of “Lewis S. Mills” high school be pulled IMMEDIATELY. No SPORTS, no LUNCH, no EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES, no TRANSPORTATION, and most importantly – NO SALARIES until the school board reinstates the student leader and PUBLICLY APOLOGIZES FOR BEING A BUNCH OF DOUCHEBAGS – TWICE.
Peace.