A man (we’ll call him Bob) who has been working for years as a high school drama teacher is out of work, so he moves out of town and brings along his wife and adult children (they are all very close.) They end up at a high school in the deep South, where he secures another position as a teacher and drama coach. His daughter also finds employment there. He bonds very quickly with the kids, who feel they can come to him for support with personal issues. He assumes the role of counselor and mentor to the kids.
Bob and his family are deeply religious but also deeply liberal, and they wish to confront entrenched issues of racism and heterosexism at the school. They try to do this by preaching love, tolerance and acceptance (their words, not mine) to the kids. The kids are incredibly receptive to this and express loyalty and affection and enthusiasm for the work he has done.
Bob is interviewed for a magazine to discuss the work he has done to promote tolerance at the school. He specifically mentions some of the black students who struggled to find a place until they became involved in the drama program. The school feels that they were unfairly portrayed as racist; Bob claims his words were taken out of context. Tensions arise between him and the administration.
A month later, disturbed by the recent spate of anti-gay bullying, Bob decides that he wants to show a YouTube video to his classroom that has an anti-bullying message. He has not watched the video before; it was sent to him by a friend who plays a role in the film. It depicts a man tied up being interrogated by a bully about his homosexuality. The language becomes very graphic with explicit references to homosexual acts, and it becomes clear that it is not appropriate material for school. 22 seconds into the film, Bob stops it and apologizes to the high school class for the inappropriate language.
Bob is suspended without pay and forbidden to have any contact whatsoever with his students until a future hearing on his conduct. There is widespread outrage over this and general unrest in the student body, with a lot of protests. Bob keeps a very public record of these happenings on Facebook, where he urges the kids not to be negative or attack the superintendent but rather to express their views respectfully. His children also post publicly about the incident, also refusing to hear any negativity or hostility expressed by the children. They defend any and all attacks on the school staff responsible for his suspension, insisting that the school administration is probably doing what they feel is best for the students. The kids are urged to get their parents to write respectful letters of support for Bob if they feel so inclined.
A hearing is held, which lasts 9 hours as scores of people come in to both support and condemn Bob’s work as a teacher. Bob has been charged with a host of infractions including ‘‘promoting the homosexual lifestyle’’ and he is terminated from his job. Bob is distressed by the news and posts on his private livejournal account about his frustrations, and also comments on his worsening mental health. Someone privy to the account apparently leaks the post.
Bob is informed that due to ‘‘veiled threats’’ in his Livejournal account, the administration will pursue a restraining order against him and will henceforth be pushing for the revocation of his teaching certificate.
Now… full disclosure. I sorta know Bob, in the loosest sense of the word (occasional personal interactions as a teen and somewhat in-depth online interactions years ago) and I’ve only heard the story from his side of the family as portrayed in their very public account on Facebook. I like him and his family very much, though there is no doubt they are off the beaten path who can easily rub others the wrong way: highly creative, theatric hyperreligious hippies with Savior complexes a mile wide each of them. In general, I admire this family’s commitment to social justice, particularly in unpopular arenas, but I respect they may lack judgment as to appropriate time and place. I am probably biased because I think it’s awesome that they are virulently anti-discrimination and yet incredibly devout Christians. This gives me hope for the future of Christianity in America.
I watched the video in question. It was pretty bad for a teaching situation. The bully kept repeating, ‘‘Do you like to suck cocks?’’ or somesuch thing. It seems to me that this guy, while very well-meaning, certainly made an error in judgment, though I would consider his immediate termination of the video as evidence that he knew inappropriate when he heard it. I’ve also read the magazine article supposedly maligning the school as racist. I personally feel the administration must be high as balls to find this offensive. There was nothing inflammatory at all in that article, just, ‘‘black kids are a minority so they sometimes struggle to fit in, yay drama!’’
As the story is presented, I can understand disciplinary action and maybe even termination at the school, but having his teacher’s certificate revoked? A restraining order? It makes no sense. Especially because this guy and his family are like the freakin’ Waltons. I’ve never heard Bob or anyone in his family utter an unkind word to anyone, and they spend their free time using Bible quotes as a basis for philosophical discussion. His students are always falling all over themselves with adoration and I’m just not seeing the outrage. I know nothing of the legalities involved in this or even how school policy works, I just don’t really know what to make of it. I don’t even know if they can terminate a certificate for something like that. I just think it’s sad this guy’s career is going to be ruined because he got a little overzealous in his desire to teach high school kids not to be assholes to each other.
So far no media attention has come to this and I am actually quite surprised. It seems ripe for commentary of some sort. Thus I submit it as fodder for conversation. And before anyone lectures me about privacy, I assure you there’s nothing in here that wasn’t publicly aired via other social media outlets by Bob himself. He and his family feel persecuted and they want this story disseminated widely on the off-chance it will help him keep his job.
Thanks,
Christy
