OPINION & EDITORIAL
Tomah ignores student’s rights
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Also by Sam Clegg:
- Manning or O'Hagan: Do you want apathy or lies? (March 27, 2008)
- Nuclear plant ban ridiculous (March 14, 2008)
- No movie plotline: Iraqi plan won't fly (March 6, 2008)
- Grocery store has a profit potential (February 29, 2008)
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- Readers offer destructive criticism (April 4, 2008)
- Small towns key for equal rights (February 15, 2007)
- Free speech lessons for liberals (October 26, 2006)
- Horowitz visit proves UW's free-speech maturity (December 11, 2001)
by Sam Clegg
Thursday, April 3, 2008
The next time you point the long
finger of justified accusation at any organization in the never-ending attack
on one of America’s most sacred rights — freedom of speech — take your sights
off the federal government and point it at a far more innocuous-seeming enemy:
Wisconsin’s very own Tomah High School.
At the center of a controversy that
has metamorphosed into a lawsuit is a supremely uninteresting landscape
painting with a cross as its centerpiece and a quote that reads “John 3:16, a
sign of love.” Hardly indicative of a young Pat Robertson.
Julie Millin, the student’s art
teacher, disagreed. Based on the infantile argument that some remarks were
being made about the student’s drawing, Ms. Millin asked him to remove the
religious references. When he refused, Ms. Millin gave him a zero on the
project and showed him a policy he signed at the beginning of the semester,
prohibiting any students from displaying their religious beliefs in their
artwork.
The student, in what I would like to
believe was more an impassioned defense of his freedom of expression than his
religious convictions, tore the policy up in Ms. Millin’s face. Cale Jackson,
the boy’s principal, then proceeded to inform the young man that his drawings
infringed on the rights of other students — and gave him the customary
detentions. After the student, with the aid of the Christian Alliance Defense
Fund, filed a suit, the district issued a press release which argued the school
must not be seen as “endorsing any particular religious viewpoint.”
The “right” of students to learn in
an entirely sterile, secular environment is more of a privilege than anything,
and it is a privilege entirely contingent on students being so subdued as to
never speak or produce something which may affront his or her peers. And it is
frankly absurd to think that a school endorses every single intellectual
product of its students.
Perhaps the most disturbing
oversight on Tomah’s part, however, is what they allowed in the class — two
pictures of what is undoubtedly some form of demon, fangs glistening
malevolently. Or perhaps, if one is searching for displays of hypocrisy, it is
the painting of Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Man” displayed prominently at
the entrance to the school. And finally there is the picture of a six-armed
Hindu deity in the school’s hallway. Why Satan, Michelangelo’s clearly theistic
artwork or a Hindu god are somehow more appropriate than a picture of a
landscape with a reference to Christian scripture is beyond me.
The school’s argument, ignorant as
it is of Tinker v. Des Moines, seems to
be centered on the fact that display of religion is appropriate so long as it
is regarded as a relic. The moment a student’s religion assumes a tangible
significance, becoming something worthy of expression — in this case through
art — it becomes something heinous, something to be hushed up and closeted away
before the scandalized murmurs continue. It is worth admitting that
Christianity — and for that matter, religion as a concept — can be taken to the
most absurd lengths human beings are capable of. But by the same token, it is
impossible to imagine how “A message of peace” comes anywhere near the obscene
brand of fundamentalist hatred spewed by, for example, the Westboro Baptist
Church.
The example of Tomah High School
reminds us that freedom of speech is unlikely to be abridged by a confederacy
of dunces placed in the highest offices of our national government. On the
contrary, such an abridgement would come from those who know us best — our teachers,
our peers and our friends, horrified that in the exercise of such freedoms we
may discover that we have the power to contradict one another.
Tomah also teaches us that at the
moment when personal advancement by means of art is contingent upon the signing
away of one’s rights, that at the moment when teachers inform their students
that from eight to three on weekdays the First Amendment is not only limited,
but has ceased to exist, we are unabashedly engaging in the basest form of
tyranny.
I sincerely wish there was a world in which one could indicate with civility that claiming one can voluntarily waive their rights as a human being was something other than morally repugnant. But there is no such world.
Sam Clegg (sclegg@badgerherald.com)
is a freshman majoring in political science and economics.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 5:28am):
You get an A for effort and biased writing but a D for execution.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 7:05am):
How is this biased? I'm not at all religious and think the policy is bunk.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 8:22am):
So, a student did not obey an agreement that he signed in order to participate in a class, refused to alter the work when given an opportunity, and was subsequently punished. What's the problem here? The kid is a liar, flat out. He signed a contract stating that he wouldn't include religious references in his work, and then he did anyways. He gave his word, and then broke it.
What about the athletic codes that all students must sign if they want to participate in sports? Are those also infringements on a students free speach rights? Should those cases be taken to court?
gerard owen (April 3, 2008 @ 11:07am):
Sam:nice writeup on tomah high.the big problem with the scool starts at the school board and has worked its way through the admim.-schools k-12-teachers-students-parents-state and local gov.-cats-dogs.ect.year round schooling would be the cure,7mo-3rs-1mo- vaction 4mo-sports,art,ect.andalso offer religous class at the parents/students pref.I could go on and on just seems like everyones name is Who whos in charge? I had to place my son in better school out of state so he has a better chance of a good ed.as far as the teacher who gave the f,my son made 2 crosses in woodshop same school broke the rules but still made a c onhis project last sem.By the way there is no seperation of relegion and state just a lot of words on a paper that says that no 1 relegion will rule our gov. more or less JACK ps.the state should look at tomah schools alot closer
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 11:29am):
Worst opening sentence-paragraph ever. You know, they have contests for poorly constructed drivel openers, you should enter this.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 1:48pm):
Wow, I sure do love it when college students find nothing better to write about than what goes on at a high school. Growing up as a non-religious person (no, I am NOT an atheist), I can appreciate a school that is secular. To call secular sterile shows just how close minded the author truly is. The student was justly punished, based on his signing of the contract and then his conduct of disrespect.
Perhaps the following sentence:
I sincerely wish there was a world in which one could indicate with civility that claiming one can voluntarily waive their rights as a human being was something other than morally repugnant.
Is a bit beyond your writing skills and comprehension of life.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 3:43pm):
Gerard-- maybe you should go back to high school? To echo 5:28, A for effort, F- for execution.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 4:49pm):
Sorry to disappoint "Anonymous" who said the student signed a contract, therefore he signed away his First Amendment rights.
First, let's start off with the student's age. Is he 18? If he isn't, he's legally not of age to sign any contract -- to buy a car in his name, to obtain credit -- anything.
Second, and far more important; A contract which is obtained by coercion is null and void. As a teacher (or principal) has more power than a kid, forcing him to sign such a contract falls under that provision. In Wisconsin, one is required to attend school until HS graduation or age 18, whichever comes first.
Kudos for this kid who had the guts to stand up against tyranny. I'd be proud to have him as a son, and Tomah High can consider themselves fortunate that I'm not this boy's father.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 6:29pm):
a horribly over-written piece
Scott Davey (April 3, 2008 @ 8:31pm):
Mr. Clegg, I agree with you totally! You must be a genious!
'Anonymous-April 3 @ 4:49pm' you make some excellent points as well!
Anonymous (April 4, 2008 @ 12:43am):
are you getting paid per word? you could have made your points in like 2 paragraphs
Anonymous (April 4, 2008 @ 12:57am):
Instead of making absurdly irrelevant criticisms to sam's writing style, why don't those people look past the front of their nose to the meaning that Sam has very clearly and articulately displayed in his writing.
Well done Clegg.
Anonymous (April 4, 2008 @ 5:34pm):
Apparently the Art Teacher and administration isn't aware of Tomah School districts own anti-discrimination policy.
http://www.tomah.k12.wi.us/handbooks/highschool/2002-2003%20Student%20Handbook%20.pdf
Then again since the school is arrogant enough to believe their contract over rules the Federal Constitution, no reason they would have to follow school board policies either.
Anonymous (April 20, 2008 @ 1:40pm):
Amazing that the leftist,lib,restrain-all-competing-thought crowd feel compelled to criticize a university freshman's writing style. They should instead confront their own unwillingness to grant liberty of expression to competing worldviews.
BTW, since when do you expect a university freshman to have graduate level writing skills? What is the point of the next 3 years a the university?
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