Are blogs covered under free speech? - That seems to be the crux of a dispute happening in a Connecticut high school:
“…Avery Doninger, now a 17-year-old senior at Lewis SO. Mills High School in Burlington, sued the school district for violating her free speech and has rallied support from writers, activists and the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut.”
link: Student’s blog sparks debate
Granted that Ms Doninger may have expressed herself more eloquently, it does raise the issue of the scope and reach of the school. If the internet posting is done away from school and on the student’s own time, does the school have any right in regulating what is said on the posting? If Ms Doninger had expressed similar opinions verbally to her friends and family, the school would be powerless to control such discourse. However, Ms Doninger expressed herself on the internet. Is that different?
Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
Flying: http://flyinghamster.com/
[tags]blogs, internet, free speech, schools, surveillance, avery doninger, lawsuit, privacy, aclu[/tags]
One Response
shadowmyth
September 20th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
1Absolutely ridiculous! Some people will use whatever they can to punish those who make them feel uncomfortable, and that is what this girl did. She expressed valid feelings over a situation that was bugging her, and people got upset. Her using the term “douche bag” may have been more of an offensive way to express herself, but it didn’t even violate obscenity laws!
The internet has been a real thorn in the school system’s agenda. Unfortunately, there is less truth in the text books, than there is on the Internet. My children battled over this fact for the short time they attended public school. Teachers told them they didn’t care what the real answers were, just fill out the answers as they were told they should be. Truth was not important, but merely giving the answer requested.
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