April 01, 2006

ACLU Sues in Support of 'Creative' 'Non-Threatening' Student Poet

From First Coast News in Brunswick, Georgia:

ROME, GA (AP) -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia filed a federal lawsuit Monday against Murray County schools for expelling an eighth-grader for writing a poem on school violence.

The student, whose name was not released, was suspended and expelled last year after he showed a notebook full of poems to his English teacher, according to an ACLU statement.

"Kids are being raised in a society where there are violent images around them, not just in movies but in the news," said ACLU attorney Beth Littrell. "Their writing may reflect that and the school should not be punishing them for their creative expression unless it's truly threatening."

The poem is not included in the story, but Jay at Stop the ACLU received the poem in question in an email:

Something bad is going to happen at school,

Maybe not to you, maybe to Loni,

IÂ’m not very sure, but I know itÂ’ll haunt me

For the rest of my life and for the rest of my days,

all I will see is a red bloody haze.

From Death to Desire,

I have to find a heart that I truely addmire.

From blondes to brunets, reds and browns,

their screams provide me with a crisp, clean sound.

I live in horror, terror and fear

I feel like I must do something like Paul Reveare.

I hear guns go off, bodies drop

I just wish this little game would stop.

Your heart beats, Your goin in shock,

you reach for the glock but tha music stops...

Loni's mother apparently thinks the poem is "truly threatening" and emailed Jay, who correctly points out that the school had little choice but to take action against the student. Of course, maybe this is simply a very creative student who has just learned a valuable, if tough, lesson in discretion.

Maybe the ACLU simply doesn't realize the potential for real trouble here because nobody mentioned the name "Columbine".

Also posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto and Vince Aut Morire.

Posted by: Bluto at 12:11 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
Post contains 359 words, total size 2 kb.

1 Call me an old fuddy-duddy, but this kind of poetry for a child denotes a psychological problem. He's what, 13 or 14? How will the ACLU plead the case? That he has a right to express himself and leave it at that? He needs help.

Posted by: Oyster at April 01, 2006 07:23 AM (YudAC)

2 As long as he's contributing to the downfall of civilization in some small way, they'll back him. Liberals all need killing.

Posted by: Improbulus Maximus at April 01, 2006 08:01 AM (0yYS2)

3 And any person who would defend this little creep needs help, too. The ACLU, well, I think IM pointed out the motivation of that organization. Destroy society as we know it and remake it into what? It boggles the mind.

Posted by: jesusland joe at April 01, 2006 08:57 AM (rUyw4)

4 in high school i've written some stuff in when I was in a funk or depressed mood.. (and who hasn't gotten depressed a time or two in high school) but NEVER turned it in as an assignment.. I would hope to think that most other students could use disern that too.. if they can't or if that is the tamest poem that kid turned in, then yes, he/she could use help or a 'safe' place to talk..

Posted by: The Other Dave at April 01, 2006 08:58 AM (W0Vif)

5 Since when is school instruction limited to the 3 R's? The teaching of acceptable societal behavior and limits (threats are not acceptable or tolerable)should be supported by legal standards not reproached by them.

Posted by: justa at April 01, 2006 09:41 AM (XU9K/)

6 Imagine what would happen if someone had tried to intervene months prior with that pair in Columbine. Same story I suppose. "Truly threatening"???? Truly??? How does one quantify that?

Posted by: hondo at April 01, 2006 10:51 AM (StM4D)

7 I taught Jr. High, and I can't imagine any of my students writing something like that. It's simply not age-appropriate "creative expression." I hope the teachers aren't so LLL that they won't oppose this kids' re-admission.

Posted by: amyc at April 01, 2006 02:10 PM (d4MD5)

8 ugh apostrophe fault

Posted by: amyc at April 01, 2006 02:11 PM (d4MD5)

9 Destroy society as we know it and remake it into what? A feudal, hegemonic, communist dystopia, ran by the party, of course. I've read Marx, Lenin, et al, and the unifying theme in all their works is that Western civilization must be destroyed and replaced with a "workers paradise", wherein the few live in parasitic splendor off of the labor of the many, with no way for one of the many to become one of the few. In short, communism is a twisted form of feudalism. Socialists and muslims are the blood enemies of civilization, and must be killed if we're going to save it.

Posted by: Improbulus Maximus at April 02, 2006 07:43 AM (0yYS2)

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