According to the following stories http://www.timesargus.com/Story/64998.html and http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15872
A police officer, IN UNIFORM, entered a school at 1:30 AM, coerced a custodian to unlock the door to a contraversial teacher’s classroom and took photographs of student art work. That teacher, Tom Treece, holds an opinion contrary to Officer John Mott’s opinion. Treece is more liberal and is anti-war in Iraq, while Mott is more conservative and is pro-war in Iraq.
The contraversy has bloomed into an all out vocal war that has divided the people. It seems that the majority of Treece’s detractors do not have first hand knowledge of what goes on in his classroom, and his supporters are students and people who have first hand knowledge of what goes on in there. The kids say that contrary to what is perceived by the detractors, Treece teaches all sides to an issue - not just his own, so he is not indoctrinating the students in anti-war sentiment.
Mott has been hailed a hero by Rush Limbaugh, who has posted the children’s art work on his web site, much to the anger of the parents of the children who constructed the contraversial artwork for an assignment where the students were asked to 1) participate in a debate on whether to invade Iraq, 2) write a paper defending your perspective, and 3) develop art work that defends your point of view. Six students designed a poster with a picture of George W Bush with duct tape over his mouth and the words: “Put your duct tape to good use. Shut your mouth.”
I feel that Officer Mott was totally out of line when he entered that school and took the pictures. In my opinion, I think he violated those kids’ rights to free speech by taking the picture to try to squelch how they felt. I also think that he may have violated the children’s copyright; by taking the picture, he has taken away their control of their own work. Certainly by providing Rush Limbaugh with the photos, he has allowed this man to use the children’s rights to control their art work to defame the children and the teacher. At the very least, Mr. Limbaugh should be directed to take down the pictures and cease and desist in defaming the children for expressing THEIR OWN OPINIONs, as you are allowed to do in the US (well, WERE allowed to do… if this is an example of how we teach children about their rights, then something is very wrong here.)
What are we teaching these kids? That if they do express their own opinion, some nitwit in a cop suit may come and make a big issue of it, blaming their teacher, who only taught them that it’s ok to express their own opinion. That if they express their opinion, that if it’s not within the framework of popular belief, then it will be held up to ridicule and possibly cost someone a job?
I don’t think that is a good message to give these children. They are old enough to be able to think for themselves. Can’t those adults give them credit for that?
Should Mott be disciplined? Should Treece be disciplined? What do you think the school board and the parents should do? And what about Rush who has jumped into the embers and is stirring it to a full fledged inferno?
In my opinion, Mott should be fired and charged with breaking and entering. The photos should be given to the school board to destroy. Treece should be given a public formal apology for the way he has been treated. The people who stuck their noses in when they didn’t know the story, and when they didn’t have a child in the classes should be told to shut up about the subject as it doesn’t concern them.
I think Rush should be told to stop fanning the flames and take those photos off his site because he is violating the children’s rights by displaying them.
We have spent all this time and energy to get these kids to form an opinion, when they usually don’t give a damn, and then when their opinion is different from some adults who can’t keep their noses out of other people’s businesses, they are told they can’t have that opinion by the actions of these people.
What do you think?