Just the Facts
John Woodward was called down to the main
office at 8:00 AM Tuesday May 26th, to
speak with Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Fitch in regards to the article he wrote
about the practice of
with-holding a list of teacher's names from students.
John was informed that the article constituted
harrassment and was grounds for expulsion.
When John pointed out that the article merely stated an opinion, Mr.
Kennedy replied, on the
verge of shouting, "You're only seventeen years old! You don't
have the right to form an
opinion!"
When John said that most of the opinions expressed
in the article were shared by the
majority of students, Mr. Fitch said of the student body, "Most of
them are just fifteen year olds
with no clue how the real world works."
Mr. Fitch then suggested that the article
should have been burned immediately upon its
completion and that he and Mr. Kennedy had no wish to see it.
They both then indicated that the
Eagle Spirit was the only negative aspect of NLSS and that there would
be no school paper next
year. Mr. Kennedy then said that Roslyn and John were to blame
for this.
A debate then ensued about human rights, in
which Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Fitch took a
very mocking and condescending attitude towards John's beliefs.
No one won the debate, though
Mr. Kennedy raised the point that conditions here would turn to those
of the Third World if people
were given absolute freedom of speech.
John left the office with the distinct impression
that he had been threatened with expulsion
if he continued to write such articles, and therefore immediately resolved
to do so.
He was later called back to the office and
assured that he had not been threatened with
expulsion, merely "challenged to think". Mr. Kennedy indicated
that John's high grade point
average was a key factor in keeping him from being expelled.
He then said of the alleged threat, "No one's
threatening to expell you. But if this [he
gestures to the article] continues it will be a definite consideration."
John left the office even more resolved to
express his opinion as often as possible.