Re: Boy Punished For Mentioning Gay Mother

"Gregory Gadow" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> "Daniel T." wrote:
>
> > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > > http://smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/02/1070127391021.html
> > >
> > >
> > > Boy, 7, 'punished' for speaking of gay mum
> > > December 2, 2003 - 10:45AM
> > >
> > >
> > > A seven-year-old boy was scolded and forced to write "I will never use
the
> > > word 'gay' in school again" after he told a classmate about his
lesbian
> > > mother, the American Civil Liberties Union alleged today.
> >
> > One thing none of the other responses seem to have covered... "Gay" is a
> > pretty standard derogotory term among the pre-teen set right now, they
> > will often call anyone or anything they don't like "gay".
> >
> > I think it is reasonable, if the teacher didn't hear the whole
> > conversion that she assumed that the student was using the word in a
> > derogatory way and I can understand why the school wanted to stop that.
> > I'm then left wondering why the school records didn't reflect the fact
> > that the child's parents really were gay.
> >
> > IMO though, the primary problem that this highlights is the fact that
> > schools routinely punish children without consulting the parents at all.
>
> I think it illustrates the idiocy of the "zero-tolerance" policies that
many
> schools have adopted. "Gay" is used as a derogatory adjective; therefore
all
> possible uses of "gay" are derogatory. Does anyone else remember about the
jr.
> high school girl who was expelled for bringing Midol to school, all
because of
> the school's strict "no drugs" policy?
>
----------------------

     Just as stupid as those "Net Nanny" and similar censorship "blocking
software" programs -- you know, the ones which prevent high school students
from looking up info on breast cancer because "breast" is a "pornographic"
red-flag word??

~Rita