slacker Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 Irregular News for 11.13.06 Austin, TX -- The fifth grade student who was recently disciplined for accessing 9/11 websites at school, such as Infowars.com, may now be forced to undergo psychiatric evaluation. 10 year-old Mark was not punished, the discipline report shows, for breaking school rules or being "off task," but rather because his principal says the webpages in his cache were "inappropriate." Sites listed in the report include '9/11 Cover-Up', 'Alex Jones' Martial Law' and 'NY 9/11 Truth', among others. According to the Steiner Ranch Elementary Student & Parent Handbook, students are restricted from accessing websites considered to be 'abusive, obscene, sexually oriented, threatening, harassing, damaging to another's reputation, or illegal'-- thus Infowars.com and other websites were not against school rules. Instead, punishing "inappropriate" behavior is a subjective assault on the free speech of students like Mark. True free speech and any expression of alternate viewpoints is-- unofficially-- a threat to what schools have become. According to Mark's father, he is being made "an example for not going along with the program." While on Alex Jones' nationally-syndicated radio program today, Mark's father said the school approached him about a complete assessment of his son's psychological make-up. After seeing some of the questions on the test, however, his father refused. "I'm not going to subject my son to this," he told Jones. "They are criminalizing normal behavior." Mark's father says he was put on drugs when he was younger and it made him "a zombie." His mother realized the effects it was causing and took him off the medication-- for which Mark's father is grateful. He admits that his son is not perfect, but thinks his son's punishment was out of line. "He is curious; he's not a follower," said Mark's father. But he was "shocked" that Infowars.com was considered to be an 'inappropriate' website. "It's outrageous," he added. Schools already set-up student computers with strict filters that block objectionable content. Why, then, was Assistant Principal Amy Moore shocked that a legitimate website like Infowars was not blocked by such filters? Perhaps students are meant to be fearful that any website they visit could be randomly deemed 'inappropriate', regardless of its content. Students are already enticed by the taboo concept of blocked content on the Internet-- and schools invite trouble by setting up open time for surfing the web, despite the protection offered by content filters. Schools should be ready, then, to be flexible with what students might see in that setting. Instead, they seem quite willing to build up an 'ad hoc' list of miscellaneous misdeeds students will not even recognize as 'misbehavior'. How, then, will such a student recognize the justification for his punishment? Steiner Ranch Elementary student Mark was assigned to 'detention' during recess as punishment, after being sent to the principal's office and made to sit in the hall, all for looking up information on a '9/11 cover up.' This is just an apt example in a nation-wide pattern wherein the Thought Police suppress student's thoughts, statements and politically incorrect views and demand simple obedience. source Quote Link to comment
Eric the Red Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 This doesn't surprise me a bit. You should never, ever take dissent material as 100% truth, then again you should never take anything you read as 100% truth, but to blatantly leave material out or purposely avoid it, is completly wrong. That's what the Nazi's did. Quote Link to comment
AR Husker Fan Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 Oh, just great. Of course, the last thing we want out of school is to actually foster a climate in which students can explore, view differning opinions and learn to think for themselves... Quote Link to comment
Redman Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Double edged sword. This is the rules of the school (how rediculous they are is debatable) and if they would allow this student to visit any website they may have problems with others going to questionable sites as well. Plus, you never know what parents will freak out about and possible threaten a lawsuit. Schools typically follow a "better safe that sorry" policy. This is what dumb lawsuits has turned schools into. Quote Link to comment
AR Husker Fan Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Double edged sword. This is the rules of the school... ***SNIP*** No - that's the point. The site he visited was not against the rules. 10 year-old Mark was not punished, the discipline report shows, for breaking school rules or being "off task," but rather because his principal says the webpages in his cache were "inappropriate." Sites listed in the report include '9/11 Cover-Up', 'Alex Jones' Martial Law' and 'NY 9/11 Truth', among others. According to the Steiner Ranch Elementary Student & Parent Handbook, students are restricted from accessing websites considered to be 'abusive, obscene, sexually oriented, threatening, harassing, damaging to another's reputation, or illegal'-- thus Infowars.com and other websites were not against school rules. Quote Link to comment
DaveH Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Oh, just great. Of course, the last thing we want out of school is to actually foster a climate in which students can explore, view differning opinions and learn to think for themselves... I hear ya, but at the same time the kid is 10. I am sure he believes Santa is real still. I don't support the action of the school, but I just had to make that point. Quote Link to comment
AR Husker Fan Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Oh, just great. Of course, the last thing we want out of school is to actually foster a climate in which students can explore, view differning opinions and learn to think for themselves... I hear ya, but at the same time the kid is 10. I am sure he believes Santa is real still. I don't support the action of the school, but I just had to make that point. Communist! Quote Link to comment
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