"Offensive" Graduation Speech?

[chanel]

"Those few who

Cut the lunch line every day,

Cheat off your paper from behind,

Stick gum in unsightly places,

Lie, steal, deceive,

Raid the locker rooms during gym,

Mock other students for being different,

Attack somebody with no justification -

And those who call them out.

Because they should.

Because such people will always exist, but

‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil

Is for good men to do nothing.' (Edmund Burke)

So do something.

And carry that sentiment with you even

As you walk, alone, into the real world.

Don't be afraid."

"These are just things that I've noticed in our school, in every school," Man said. "My message is that these things happen in school and in the real world. In school, it's probably easier to say, ‘Hey, knock it off, stop putting gum under that chair.' In the real world, it's a little more difficult, a little more serious.'"

This valedictorian, headed to the Ivy League, was barred from speaking because school officials found this speech "offensive". What say you?

 

[Madeline]

I say the school officials are wrong....

When did kids calling on other kids to seek justice become "offensive"?

 

[Skull Pilot]

Typical of our public schools

God forbid a student actually learns to think for himself.

 

[editec]

"Those few who

Cut the lunch line every day,

Cheat off your paper from behind,

Stick gum in unsightly places,

Lie, steal, deceive,

Raid the locker rooms during gym,

Mock other students for being different,

Attack somebody with no justification -

And those who call them out.

Because they should.

Because such people will always exist, but

‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil

Is for good men to do nothing.' (Edmund Burke)

So do something.

And carry that sentiment with you even

As you walk, alone, into the real world.

Don't be afraid."

"These are just things that I've noticed in our school, in every school," Man said. "My message is that these things happen in school and in the real world. In school, it's probably easier to say, ‘Hey, knock it off, stop putting gum under that chair.' In the real world, it's a little more difficult, a little more serious.'"

This valedictorian, headed to the Ivy League, was barred from speaking because school officials found this speech "offensive". What say you?

Truth is offensive.

That's why there's so little of it.

 

[chanel]

My guess is that school officials don't want the public to hear that there are bad kids and bad people in the world. Not in their protected environment. It's all morally relative.

At my son's graduation, the valedictorian also gave a controversial speech. (coincidentally she's at U Penn now too). She used a quote from MLK " If you are called to be a street sweeper, sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.' She then pointed out that statistically many of them would end up as fast food workers, single moms, alcoholics, battered wives, etc. They were NOT all going to end up millionaires.

People were shocked. But it was memorable and provoked discussion for a long time. That's what she wanted. I think it was great.

 

[Madeline]

Even if the speech actually were offensive, should we take free speech rights away from the valedictorian? That sort of thing makes adults seem unfair as hell to kids, and rightly so.

 

[chanel]

From the school's point of view; the valedictorian is not speaking for him or herself; they are speaking on behalf of the entire graduating class. Truly offensive speech would go against the mission of the school and could be hurtful. That stuff best be left for facebook.

However... I don't think this speech was even controversial; let alone "offensive". I have a feeling it was personal. This young lady may be the Sarah Palin of the Class of 2010.

 

[Big Black Dog]

You can't be saying things that are true in public any more. It's just not heard of. What was this student thinking? Didn't she know, or didn't somebody tell her that the truth would be hurtful to other peoples ears? Shame on her. I'll be willing to wager if she prepared the same speech but somehow belittled conservative minded students with it that it would have been well received and approved by the school.

 

[Madeline]

From the school's point of view; the valedictorian is not speaking for him or herself; they are speaking on behalf of the entire graduating class. Truly offensive speech would go against the mission of the school and could be hurtful. That stuff best be left for facebook.

However... I don't think this speech was even controversial; let alone "offensive". I have a feeling it was personal. This young lady may be the Sarah Palin of the Class of 2010.

I wasn't thinking of sexual speech. I was casting my mind back to anti-war speeches given by valedictorians when I was young. And BTW, I kinda sorta thought her speech was liberal in POV. Why did you think it was conservative?

 

[rikules]

Typical of our public schools

God forbid a student actually learns to think for himself.

I believe that "god forbid people to think for themselves" is the motto of the the conservative christian in America today

 

[random3434]

"Those few who

Cut the lunch line every day,

Cheat off your paper from behind,

Stick gum in unsightly places,

Lie, steal, deceive,

Raid the locker rooms during gym,

Mock other students for being different,

Attack somebody with no justification -

And those who call them out.

Because they should.

Because such people will always exist, but

‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil

Is for good men to do nothing.' (Edmund Burke)

So do something.

And carry that sentiment with you even

As you walk, alone, into the real world.

Don't be afraid."

"These are just things that I've noticed in our school, in every school," Man said. "My message is that these things happen in school and in the real world. In school, it's probably easier to say, ‘Hey, knock it off, stop putting gum under that chair.' In the real world, it's a little more difficult, a little more serious.'"

This valedictorian, headed to the Ivy League, was barred from speaking because school officials found this speech "offensive". What say you?

Where was this Chanel? Your school?

If I was her, I would have then sent the speech to the papers so at least it could have been read by people. Why the school was afraid of telling others to stand up for what is right is a bit concerning,, wouldn't you say?

 

[chanel]

From the school's point of view; the valedictorian is not speaking for him or herself; they are speaking on behalf of the entire graduating class. Truly offensive speech would go against the mission of the school and could be hurtful. That stuff best be left for facebook.

However... I don't think this speech was even controversial; let alone "offensive". I have a feeling it was personal. This young lady may be the Sarah Palin of the Class of 2010.

I wasn't thinking of sexual speech. I was casting my mind back to anti-war speeches given by valedictorians when I was young. And BTW, I kinda sorta thought her speech was liberal in POV. Why did you think it was conservative?

I don't know her politics. I just used Palin as an example because she is a female. To be honest, I would bet a male student would not have been censored.

The speech might have been construed as conservative though because she was kind of dissing the troublemakers, which may have been construed as racist, etc. I'll have to ask someone. I have a friend who teaches there.

 

[Madeline]

Without a context, I imagined she was dissing the school bullies, vandals, etc. Mainly the children of privilege. And by touting the dignity of work, she sure sounded liberal to me.

I guess we all hear what we wanna hear -- but I must admit, it never occurred to me she was silenced because she was a girl. I sure hope you are wrong about that one.

 

[random3434]

Without a context, I imagined she was dissing the school bullies, vandals, etc. Mainly the children of privilege. And by touting the dignity of work, she sure sounded liberal to me.

I guess we all hear what we wanna hear -- but I must admit, it never occurred to me she was silenced because she was a girl. I sure hope you are wrong about that one.

I agree. I didn't think this was "political" in any way, shape or form. Or sexist, or racist. She sounds just like my daughter to tell the truth. She's always stood up for the "little guy" and defended those that get picked on by the bullies.

 

[chanel]

"Those few who

Cut the lunch line every day,

Cheat off your paper from behind,

Stick gum in unsightly places,

Lie, steal, deceive,

Raid the locker rooms during gym,

Mock other students for being different,

Attack somebody with no justification -

And those who call them out.

Because they should.

Because such people will always exist, but

‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil

Is for good men to do nothing.' (Edmund Burke)

So do something.

And carry that sentiment with you even

As you walk, alone, into the real world.

Don't be afraid."

"These are just things that I've noticed in our school, in every school," Man said. "My message is that these things happen in school and in the real world. In school, it's probably easier to say, ‘Hey, knock it off, stop putting gum under that chair.' In the real world, it's a little more difficult, a little more serious.'"

This valedictorian, headed to the Ivy League, was barred from speaking because school officials found this speech "offensive". What say you?

Where was this Chanel? Your school?

If I was her, I would have then sent the speech to the papers so at least it could have been read by people. Why the school was afraid of telling others to stand up for what is right is a bit concerning,, wouldn't you say?

It's at a school not far away. That's what she did EZ, and I was glad the paper printed it.

 

[chanel]

I agree with both of you. However, I am still trying to understand the school's rationale.

 

[AllieBaba]

"Those few who

Cut the lunch line every day,

Cheat off your paper from behind,

Stick gum in unsightly places,

Lie, steal, deceive,

Raid the locker rooms during gym,

Mock other students for being different,

Attack somebody with no justification -

And those who call them out.

Because they should.

Because such people will always exist, but

‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil

Is for good men to do nothing.' (Edmund Burke)

So do something.

And carry that sentiment with you even

As you walk, alone, into the real world.

Don't be afraid."

"These are just things that I've noticed in our school, in every school," Man said. "My message is that these things happen in school and in the real world. In school, it's probably easier to say, ‘Hey, knock it off, stop putting gum under that chair.' In the real world, it's a little more difficult, a little more serious.'"

This valedictorian, headed to the Ivy League, was barred from speaking because school officials found this speech "offensive". What say you?

It's times like this that I become reminiscent of the old tradition of "running the gauntlet". I think the school employees who had anything to do with this (oh never mind, just have them all line up) should run the gauntlet.

Another cool tradition we've lost is the whip man (or woman). In our Indian culture, none of the kids were whipped during the year. But the whip man (and sometimes woman) came around 1 x a year and everyone who needed a whipping got it then.

Kids had all year to think about what was coming and how severe it would be.

That would be fun to use on these assholes as well.

 

[AllieBaba]

I agree with both of you. However, I am still trying to understand the school's rationale.

They're leftist, tyrannical scum bags. They probably recognize themselves as one of the people he describes in the speech.

 

[Modbert]

From the school's point of view; the valedictorian is not speaking for him or herself; they are speaking on behalf of the entire graduating class. Truly offensive speech would go against the mission of the school and could be hurtful. That stuff best be left for facebook.

However... I don't think this speech was even controversial; let alone "offensive". I have a feeling it was personal. This young lady may be the Sarah Palin of the Class of 2010.

Why, did she quit her speech halfway through?

As for this, no big surprise. After all, students have no rights in class. Why would they have them at graduation?

 

[Modbert]

They're leftist, tyrannical scum bags. They probably recognize themselves as one of the people he describes in the speech.

Allie trying to politicize this, no big surprise.