From what I understand, this was less of a case of a girl being upset about “things going awry” than it was a case of a teenaged brat who was angry that she didn’t get her way. (See Wiglaf’s post, #14)

Yes, she won by write-in, but she was disqualified from serving in the first place. No matter how popular a man may be, if he is rendered ineligible for a public office, it doesn’t matter if the majority writes his name in. He’s still not going to be elected. In this case, whether justified or not, her tirade against the schoolboard made her claim to office illegitimate.

My second question is since when did “taking on authority” become a good thing? Obviously there are situations where unbridled authority needs to be challenged, but we should never assume that a rebellious or anarchist attitude is the “right one to have.”

I’d much rather have a civil and erudite person representing me than an immature and indignant one.

There’s a profound difference between being “beaten down and apathetic” and using due process to change or fix things we don’t like.

Two things you should never complain about are the things you can’t change, and the things you can.

Whether it’s justified, ethical, or right for schools, employers, or governments to read the blogs/personal sites of their constituents is another debate entirely. One thing is certain, however (having dealt with being harassed and/or cyberstalked because of things I’ve said in my blog): be careful what you say, especially on the internet, because nothing is as private or as personal as we might think, and you never know who’s reading.

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Someone else probably brought this up first, but if so I overlooked it.

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http://www.citmedialaw.org/threats/doninger-v-niehoff

http://nygang.blogspot.com/2008/03/averys-midterm-exam-civics-for.html

These are three good sources for more indepth information. There is more at stake here than a foul-mouthed kid demanding to get her way. To start with, does anyone really want the government (public school admins) reaching into a home to punish at home behavior? It was up to the parents to deal with what occured in their home at night. Second, does anyone really want a generation of kids that are so lazy and uninvolved that they don’t get fired up? A generation of kids that don’t want to take on the authority? How are they supposed to get ready to lead if they are smacked down for their clumsy efforts? This was a lost teaching moment. Of course the comment was rude – of course she should have been confronted with how bad it makes her look. But here is a kid who is involved, who cares enough to get up set when things go ary, who wants to participate. Is it really the best response to eliminate her involvement? Then there is the question of democracy. How do we raise a generation to lead a democracy if a vote is disregarded? SHE WON BY WRITE IN!! Democracy is a leap of faith. Do the admins really think that the student body is incapable of electing a good representative? If any electorate makes a bad decision a price is paid with bad leadership. Should this class of students – seniors – voting in ‘08 – really be taught that ‘big brother’ will select for them. Talk about how to raise a generation of lemmings.

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She wrote [from the article]:
“‘Jamfest’ is canceled due to douchebags in central office,” and also referred to an administrator who was “pissed off.”

Yes, such ridiculous name calling lacks class, but expressing anger to “central office” shouldn’t have necessarily disqualified her. Must the students always refer to “central office” in high and glowing terms?

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The truth is she does have the right to say whatever she wants on her personal blog. (If the blog was some sort of official student council blog, then the rules change.) This is not a case of shouting fire in a crowded theater. Are schools now going to have to have blog police that monitor the content of student blogs, how about their facebook comments? That sounds like a nightmare. IMHO, the school would have been better off pretending that they didn’t know anything about it. Sometimes you have to choose your battles.

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Student government is not a requirement for schools and participation is not mandatory for students when student government programs are offered. Student government is employed as a teaching tool so that students can learn about principles of government and civil discourse. In this sense, it is like an extra-curricular civics class. Teachers and administrators DO have the right to set standards for behavior and participation in such classes. This young lady has blatantly and belligerently shown public contempt for her teachers and has thus disqualified herself for this extra-curricular class, which, by the way, is a privilege, and not a right.

Students need to be reminded of this and disabused of the false idea that student government has any real authority. Sometimes, in their youthful arrogance, they just get a little “too big for their britches.”

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Take away the internet context for a minute – if this girl said these things to her friends at the Dairy Queen, or if RobHays ball player dissed the coach in the lockerroom to his teammates, they’d have a very limited audience. Using the internet, the only difference is they’ve basically proved to a much wider audience that they’re jerks.

So the problem will be she’s got a lousy attitude, and is going to have a hard time working with the school administration. But hey, if that’s what the kids want, let them have her as their rep. They just shouldn’t expect that she’ll get much done or that the administration she dissed will bend over backwards to work with her.

I don’t think the offense rises to the point where she should be automatically disqualified, but boy, do I wish her classmates decided for themselves that she’s not the person they want representing them!

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Let’s put it in another non-student gov’t context: if I’m a high school basketball player, and I post on my blog that my coach is a ^%&*$ and the rest of the team and other people at the school read the entry, I’d be off the team so fast it’d make my Nikes spin. Did that violate my free speech?

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“Go f— yourself!” ~ Dick Cheney to Sen. Pat Leahy on the floor of the US Senate, June 2004

Thank you, new left.

[eyeroll]

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I don’t know how this is going to turn out, but I doubt the court will put any school administration in the position of being dictated to by a snarky little whatever. They need control within the school setting. She may win her “right” to freely blog, but a new rule regarding school officer requirements may be in the offing. The student may have to make a choice of what’s more important to him/her — dissing the administration or working with it in a responsible, more adult-like manner.

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