In school, where officials have authority under a in loco parentis philosophy, I concur. If out of school, no way! You should have the right to call your teacher, your principal, your school board president whatever you want among your peers on a home computer.
If Sotomayor feels this way about teens expressing their opinion about school officials, there is no telling what she'd do if a case came before her in which a citizen was expressing his or her opinion about Lady Pelosi on the street or a certain talk radio personality fuming on the air about Hussein Obama!
> You should have the right to call your teacher, your principal, your school board president whatever you want among your peers on a home computer.
Even given the very public nature of computers? It’s not like the Internet is private.
I guess there also remains the question of whether juveniles should have respect for adults by default — particularly those who are in positions of authority, like teachers, like police, like parents. My answer would be “yes” — and I would certainly expect that from my children.
Juveniles are not equals with Adults. That is why they are Juveniles. Adults deserve a modicum of Respect merely by dint of the fact that they are Adults.
Respect costs nothing, and everybody is entitled to Respect at least on some level. Everybody, and I don’t care who. Even Pelosi, even Obama. That doesn’t mean we have to like them, it certainly doesn’t mean we have to defer to them or bow down to them or do as they say. But it does mean that labels like “douche-bag” are probably out-of-line.
It is still quite possible — easy in fact — to use our good manners and still thoroughly dislike and abominate and hold in abject contempt our enemies. Liberals never use their good manners; Conservatives ought to at all times.
(I don’t always, but I should).