Homeland Security at Barberton High
They're having some labor problems at Barberton. Some students are sympathetic to the teachers' side of things, and attempted to organize a walkout. 20 of them were suspended...not for walking out, mind you (which is arguably a suspendable offence), but for distributing a flyer telling everyone to go to the gym on Oct. 9 at 10 AM.
Superintendant Lizzie Lolli claims that the issue is student safety...in which case they need to cancel all school assemblies for the year, since the gym is obviously a dangerous place. Who knows, the union (or, more likely, the administration acting in their name) could put a BOMB in there. And she's feeling all virtuous because, after all, the kids could have gotten TEN days instead of one or two.
And it's not just students getting gagged. Teachers have been told not to discuss the suspensions or free-speech issues. Well gee, what if the lesson plan for American history involves Lincoln throwing newspaper editors in jail, or Schenk v. US, or any similar unsavory moments in our history?
If it were my kid being suspended, I'd be out of there. But if I had a kid, he wouldn't be in Compulsory Youth Indoctrination Camp to begin with.
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All Barberton High students should stage a WALKOUT!
Excerpt: As mentioned in Quick and the Dead blog about Homeland Security at Barberton High, 20 students were suspended for trying...
Weblog: Through the Magnifying Glass
Tracked: September 29, 2006 02:20 PM
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Posted by:
Posted on: September 29, 2006 10:13 AM
This issue has nothing to do with Homeland Security or explosives. Why even go that way in your posting? It does not fit, nor make sense.
Posted by: Jeffrey Quick
Posted on: September 29, 2006 11:05 AM
Why?
Just like the Department of Homeland Security, the administration of Barberton High has chosen to abrogate students' rights in the name of "security". As for bombs, what else could even remotely make a gathering in a gym dangerous? A 20" October snowfall collapsing the roof maybe? A bomb is just that unlikely, and that's the point: this isn't about safety, it's about control.
I went to high school in the crazy early 70s, in a rural school in an area infested with John Birchers, and nothing like this happened, or could even be conceived of.