Lee County girl can't hand out anti-abortion info at school

Bradenton.com ^ | 7/2/05 | AP

[easonc52]

Well, he did say they wouldnt let the pro-abortion groups hand out anything either. So I guess its fair at least.

My school (a technology college) has a policy (don't know if it's written or common sense), of no discussions regarding religion, sex, and politics. I'm OK with that in that it's just distracting from the main purpose of being there, which is to learn.

In high schools, however, I have mixed feelings, since academia seems to lean way too far to the left...

[nmh]

But it's okay to have "a day of silence" for persecuted "gay" people and have the school sneak the kids off to a planned parenthood clinic for birth control stuff.

[Little Bill]

If that was me, I have done some pretty outrageous things, I would eliminate the religion thing and then include some real graphic photographs, I mean real graphic, until the appeal decides the out come.

If it is true, and can be documented, just because it makes you sick is not an argument for banning it, porn for example.

[spunkets]

"It's a school. They should be there to learn, not to debate."

The mat'ls weren't distributed during class time and there was no indication the matl's were being force fed. The school bureaucrats and the judge interfered in what is essentially discourse between the students and perhaps faculty on their own time. Also, the matl. was of an educational nature and unarguably of worth regarding moral values.

[nmh]

"It's a school. They should be there to learn, not to debate."

Indeed it is a school.

They should be there to "learn" and part of their world includes abortion.

You're right, there should be NO debate on abortion when they are allowed to "learn" what an abortion is and ideally what an abortion looks like - then, they will have "learned" something and there will be no need for "debate".

[nmh]

How do you justify the "day of silence" in schools across the country to pay coerced homage to gays?

[Grn_Lantern]

So can I distribute porn in school?

[spunkets]

"Well, he did say they wouldnt let the pro-abortion groups hand out anything either. So I guess its fair at least."

The school faculty handles the pro abort mat'l. He didn't address that. I'm sure she was well aware of that when she composed her rubbish.

[Clara Lou]

So can I distribute porn in school?
No, on the basis that it would also be a disruption. [There are other legal bases, but that's one.]

[spunkets]

"So can I distribute porn in school?"

Community stds.

[Grn_Lantern]

Right...I was just making a point.

Besides the obvious obscenity issues, it's a content neutral restriction. For example, the same result should occur if this suit was someone trying to pass out "Bush lied" pamphlets and the administration wouldn't let them...

[spunkets]

Apparently, the judge upheld the school bureaucrats action on public safety grounds. It's a bogus decision. The 1st Amend. doesn't allow for any infringement, public safety notwithstanding.

[Aquinasfan]

"Permitting pro-life and pro-choice literature to be distributed by students in the school hallways would turn the school hallways into a battlefield," Covington wrote in the order.

Right. School is about killing time, not pursuing truth, particularly with regard to life and death issues.

Imagine interupting algebra class for this!

[beezdotcom]

It's a school. They should be there to learn, not to debate.

Reminds me of a teacher I knew, who, after being informed by a student of what SHE thought the correct interpretation of a poem was (and the student was indeed correct) subsequently replied:

"Missy, you are not here to THINK, you are here to LEARN."

[taxesareforever]

saying the divisive issue could turn the hallways into a "battlefield."

But indoctrination is permissible and is not a devisive issue. So, who are the intolerant ones? Of course, the ones who would turn the hallways into a battlefield.

[Little Bill]

I know the public safety angle, we had that problem when doing FReeps in Boston. My argument to the cops was and is, If you allow a protest, permitted or not, permits only cover sound in Mass for the most part, I as a citizen passing by have a right to counter protest, even though I arrived with an arm load of signs and flags on public property.

The same would apply in reverse in this case, if they have a problem with what I am doing counter protest me, if my actions are peaceable and do not excite to riot, she has a good argument, this applies to Mass only.

[YoungHickey]

Reminds me of a teacher I knew, who, after being informed by a student of what SHE thought the correct interpretation of a poem was (and the student was indeed correct) subsequently replied: "Missy, you are not here to THINK, you are here to LEARN."

I'm all about people thinking for themselves, don't get me wrong, but I think it is an issue that has no place in school.

[YoungHickey]

"It's a school. They should be there to learn, not to debate."

hmmmm, I was on the debate team in school.

You want a cookie or something? Seriously though, if she wants to do that after school just like your debate team was an extracuricular activity I bet, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. But to be going around while classes are in session would distract students from learning.

[YoungHickey]

I'm all about people thinking for themselves, don't get me wrong, but I think it is an issue that has no place in school.

Except for health class.

[Melas]

I don't see the leftism here. The ruling is spot-on. If you give one side of the debate the freedom to distribute pamphlets, you're going to have to allow the other side the same opportunity.