My partner pointed this out to me, it was in today's Washington Post. I just simply copied and pasted the column. What the fuck were these so-called school administrators thinking? Keep in mind, this is high school honors students, not middle or elementary school...
NY Students Suspended for Reading "Vagina Monologues"
Censorship, Bureaucracy & American Education
In the latest jaw-dropping educational idiocy, three honors students at a suburban New York City high school have been suspended for saying "vagina" during an in-school performance of "The Vagina Monologues." The trio of 11th-grade girls from John Jay High were warned prior to the "open mic session" that it would be "inappropriate" to utter that word while performing Eve Ensler's "feminist play." But, rather than infringe upon Ensler's creative work, they decided as a team to disobey, reciting the "naughty" three syllables of anatomy in unison.
As a result, Megan Reback, Elan Stahl and Hannah Levinson each received "separate, one-day, in-school suspensions," starting today. Despite their punishment, the girls appear steadfast in their recalcitrance, stating they were "proud to say it," and others, including their parents, agree. Supporters have circulated e-mails and started a protest group on Facebook, while parents have written letters to the school board claiming the punishment amounts to censorship. Word has even gotten back to the author herself, who praised the girls and characterized the school's position as "absurd, a throwback to the Dark Ages."
Thus far, Principal Richard Leprine has denied any censorship, instead claiming that "the girls were punished not because of what they said but because they disobeyed orders not to say it." School Board President Peter Breslin abetted, stating that the decision to suspend "was not about censorship but rather about insubordination."
Fine, I'm willing to except [sic] that cop-out on face value, but if saying "vagina" wasn't a problem, then why issue an order forbidding it in the first place? Was the school's objective to teach them that no matter how repressively backwards a rule is, it must be followed blindly? Or maybe its goal was to demonstrate how irony (and/or totalitarianism) works by calling the event an "open mic" and then punishing those with the gall to speak into the said mic openly?
Either way, it seems the only thing the school achieved through this fiasco (other than giving the trio a kick-ass topic for their college essays), was to educate students and remind parents that bureaucracies care more about protecting their authority than accommodating the public they were designed to serve.
By Emil Steiner
NY Students Suspended for Reading "Vagina Monologues"
Censorship, Bureaucracy & American Education
In the latest jaw-dropping educational idiocy, three honors students at a suburban New York City high school have been suspended for saying "vagina" during an in-school performance of "The Vagina Monologues." The trio of 11th-grade girls from John Jay High were warned prior to the "open mic session" that it would be "inappropriate" to utter that word while performing Eve Ensler's "feminist play." But, rather than infringe upon Ensler's creative work, they decided as a team to disobey, reciting the "naughty" three syllables of anatomy in unison.
As a result, Megan Reback, Elan Stahl and Hannah Levinson each received "separate, one-day, in-school suspensions," starting today. Despite their punishment, the girls appear steadfast in their recalcitrance, stating they were "proud to say it," and others, including their parents, agree. Supporters have circulated e-mails and started a protest group on Facebook, while parents have written letters to the school board claiming the punishment amounts to censorship. Word has even gotten back to the author herself, who praised the girls and characterized the school's position as "absurd, a throwback to the Dark Ages."
Thus far, Principal Richard Leprine has denied any censorship, instead claiming that "the girls were punished not because of what they said but because they disobeyed orders not to say it." School Board President Peter Breslin abetted, stating that the decision to suspend "was not about censorship but rather about insubordination."
Fine, I'm willing to except [sic] that cop-out on face value, but if saying "vagina" wasn't a problem, then why issue an order forbidding it in the first place? Was the school's objective to teach them that no matter how repressively backwards a rule is, it must be followed blindly? Or maybe its goal was to demonstrate how irony (and/or totalitarianism) works by calling the event an "open mic" and then punishing those with the gall to speak into the said mic openly?
Either way, it seems the only thing the school achieved through this fiasco (other than giving the trio a kick-ass topic for their college essays), was to educate students and remind parents that bureaucracies care more about protecting their authority than accommodating the public they were designed to serve.
By Emil Steiner
