December 05, 2003
Bloggers speak out about Sashwat's Suspension
A number of "bloggers" (folks who operate web logs, or "blogs" -- popular public online journals) took note of Sashwat's suspension, and I'm overdue in making note of them.
Kimberly Swygert decries the fact that when school officials nowadays say "We have to treat every incident very seriously," what they mean is that they can't use any personal judgment or common sense. In this case, it means they couldn't consider the fact that Sashwat is an honors student who meant no harm, in determining whether what he did was threatening.
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Indian blogger Om Malik says of Sashwat, "Damn - we got our own 50 Cent in the making."
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Joanne Jacobs, whose blog entry was combined with a number of others to create her "School Principals Gone Wild" piece for FoxNews, says this:
The boy's lawyer now says he was expressing his opinion that his school is run like a "police state." No kidding.
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Sajit Gandhi of DESIBLOGS posted, "I don't think making a CD is on par with bringing a gun to school, arson, or any sort of violent crimes. I think it is more of an exercise in free speech than anything else."
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Blogger Ryan MacMichael heard about Sashwat's situation, and repeated what so many of us who are already out of school have said:
If the sensitivity about kids' creative output was as high ten years ago as it is now, I would have been kicked out of school and charged with threatening students, teachers, and administrators.
He then goes on to add some very wise comments:
This goes far beyond being cautious. You can't just take words by themselves... you have to look at the individual, their history, their demeanor. The things I said (and sometimes still say) aren't indicative of what I'm going to do. If that was the case, every mystery or horror writer would need to be put in jail because their characters were doing something violent.
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Suman Palit makes this observation on his blog:
Every teenage button that is pushable, is not just being pushed. It's getting hammered into the bone by these idiots. They are raising a generation of angry, radicalized youth. A generation that is unlikely to trust the educational establishment to teach their own kids.
He then goes on to say tongue-in-cheek that he hopes Sashwat gets a record deal out of all this, and closes with a refrain very similar to Ryan's above:
A final thought occurs to me.. if I were a high school teen here in the US, this blog would probably get me committed to Guantanamo for several lifetimes.
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And last but not least, Glenn Reynolds of the super-blog InstaPundit simply called the Journal-Sentinel story that started this all, "more news from the educational quagmire".
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Sadly, Glenn's comment might be the most astute. If there is no lesson learned, and no progress made, and nothing productive accomplished via Sashwat's suspension, then it really does just end up being "more news from the educational quagmire".
November 26, 2003
Zero Patience for Zero Tolerance
Zero Patience for Zero Tolerance
Link to original
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
By Wendy McElroy
News shows recently showed video of 14 police officers charging a crowded high-school corridor with guns drawn in a drug sweep. Students at Stratford Creek High School in Goose Creek, S.C., were forced onto their knees or against walls, while dogs sniffed their backpacks for drugs.
None were found. Although the incident was extreme, it was not an aberration but the logical consequences of "zero tolerance" policies, defended by both the school and the police. Zero tolerance must be abandoned, especially in connection with children.
Zero-tolerance policies have resulted in some children being placed in the criminal justice system. Two examples currently in the news: A Missouri judge ruled that a 6-year-old boy suspected of killing his grandfather could be charged as an adult; a New Jersey prosecutor's office has charged a 7-year-old boy with molesting a 5-year-old girl in an incident that the defense attorney describes as "playing doctor."
For most children, zero tolerance is experienced in schools with administrative rules that purportedly enforce safety and discipline. Arguably, the administrative rules are actually a reaction to federal threats to cut funds. For example, in 1994 Congress passed the Gun-Free School Act by which states had to implement zero tolerance on weapons or lose federal money. Many schools rigorously interpreted zero tolerance to include the prohibition of anything even looking like a weapon. They adopted broad definitions of dangerous behavior, which allowed for no exceptions.
Soon the media spilled over with stories of young children being suspended or treated like felons for playing with water pistols, paper guns or even for pointing their fingers at each other and saying "bang."
The punishment for possessing an obvious toy became the same as for possessing a real weapon because zero tolerance means zero distinctions. Zero tolerance takes discretion and evaluation away from educators and mandates responses that can be wildly inappropriate. Behavior that used to be corrected by detention or a trip to the principal's office now receives suspension, expulsion or even police involvement. What used to be the last resort has become the first and only option.
In Madison, Wis., Chris Schmidt, a sixth-grader with a spotless record, faced a year's suspension because he brought a kitchen knife to school for a science project. Asked about the case, Valencia Douglas, an assistant superintendent of schools in Madison, said, "We can't say, 'You're a good kid, so your mistake doesn't have as much force, or importance behind it.'"
And so, an 11-year-old is taken away in handcuffs for drawing a picture of a gun; an 8-year-old faces expulsion for a keychain that contained a cheap nail clipper; a fifth-grader is suspended for drawing the World Trade Center being hit by an airplane ... The stories go on and on.
The quantity of these incidents illustrates that the vicious consequences of zero tolerance are not isolated events. They are embedded into one of the most important institutions of society: the educational system. When the school principal in Goose Creek justified police pointing guns at innocent students, he did so by saying he would use "any means" to keep his school "clean."
A backlash is developing among students who are reportedly saying the same thing nationwide. Many schools now resemble prisons with hidden security cameras, metal detectors, guards, random searches, drug-sniffing dogs, and searches without warrants.
Zero tolerance is commonly justified on the grounds of children's safety. But, in studying "unsafe" schools that had enforced zero-tolerance policies for four years, the National Center for Education Statistics found little change (Skiba & Peterson, 1999).
In commenting on the study in the journal "National Association of Elementary School Principals," Roger W. Ashford wrote, "The study concludes, however, that even though there is little data to prove the effectiveness of zero-tolerance policies, such initiatives serve to reassure the public that something is being done to ensure safety. Therefore, the popularity of zero-tolerance policies may have less to do with their actual effect than the image they portray of schools taking harsh measures to prevent violence. Whether the message actually changes student behavior may be less important than the reassurance it provides to administrators, teachers and parents."
Everyone recognizes that zero-tolerance policies were developed in response to legitimate concerns, such as those raised by the high-school shootings at Columbine. But, increasingly, people are also recognizing that zero tolerance creates as many -- and perhaps more -- problems than the original difficulties they were meant to solve.
Alternatives are being suggested. For example, Richard L. Curwin and Allen N. Mendler have co-authored a book entitled "As Tough as Necessary: Countering Aggression, Violence, and Hostility in Schools" (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1999). They advocate a wide range of responses to school violence, which depend upon an evaluation of the circumstances surrounding each incident. The responses include "counseling, restitution, behavioral planning, behavior rehearsal, suspension with training or educational experience, and police referral."
Another alternative is homeschooling.
There is little evidence that zero tolerance produces safety. Instead, it strips away the safeguards of a peaceful society: compassion, due process, good will, presumption of innocence, tolerance, discretion, humor ... It victimizes the most vulnerable citizens: children.
Wendy McElroy is the editor of ifeminists.com and a research fellow for The Independent Institute in Oakland, Calif. She is the author and editor of many books and articles, including the new book, "Liberty for Women: Freedom and Feminism in the 21st Century" (Ivan R. Dee/Independent Institute, 2002). She lives with her husband in Canada.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
November 16, 2003
Suspension of student was too harsh, some say
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's "Jump" teen section:
Suspension of student was too harsh, some say
(link to original)
Last Updated: Nov. 16, 2003
We asked for your thoughts on the suspension of Brookfield Central High School student Sashwat Singh, 15, for making a rap CD at home that allegedly threatened his school's principal. Here's an edited sampling of what a few of you had to say:
Kelly MacAvaney, 16, junior, Greenfield High School: "I think that suspension in Singh's case was too much - especially since he did not distribute his CDs around school. The so-called threats in the track which insulted the principal seem simply reflective of the genre style during this time. Therefore, his CD was obviously created in the name of art - an often-debated topic, of course, but nonetheless quite an appropriate label in this case. True, guidelines need to be established in order to protect students and teachers from potential Dylan Klebolds and Eric Harrises (the killers in the 1999 Columbine High School shootings), but in Singh's case, this CD is not the creation of a gloating terrorist but an aspiring artist. (Completely off topic: I found it amusing that Sashwat's principal seemed threatened by getting his (expletive) beat down.)"
Cat McMurtry, 16, junior, Shorewood High School: "I think Principal Cerutti was just a little bit overzealous in his punishment of Singh. A five-day suspension from school seems just a bit harsh for allegations of "gross disobedience" and "misconduct" that the superintendent callously brushes away. I can definitely understand the position Singh takes, in that one should be able to record what one desires without persecution. He didn't take any physical actions against the principal, and this seems to be the first notable encounter Singh has had with the administration. However, I don't think the suspension was entirely undeserved. Had it been me as principal, I would have done the same thing, but perhaps to a lesser degree. I don't think we can blame Cerutti for being concerned about a CD circulating within his school, talking about 'beating his (expletive) down.'"
Nicholas Young, 15, Professional Learning Institute: "I think he shouldn't get kicked out of school because of what he expresses about the principal. I myself write raps about my teacher. They need to understand that this is the way we express our emotions about them. Also, I think that the teacher or principal shouldn't take it seriously. For example, Eminem writes about killing Kim (his former wife), but Eminem just did it to show his expression about the whole drama that was between them, about her cutting her wrists and then their divorce."
From the Nov. 17, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
November 14, 2003
FOXNews Commentary: School Principals Gone Wild
FOXNews.com - Views - JoanneJacobs.com - School Principals Gone Wild
This commentary about out-of-control school administrators features the following excerpt about Principal Cerutti:
But since Columbine, school officials see no limits to their right to police student speech and behavior.
In Brookfield, Wisc., a 15-year-old honor student was suspended for rapping -- on a CD he made at home -- about beating down the principal's ass. The vulgar boast was taken as a violent threat, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Over the course of three months, Sashwat Singh wrote and recorded a 32-minute, 14-track rap compact disc featuring rants that made reference to illegal drug use and explicit sexual acts. He denigrates classmates, his mother and his high school. One track is a rap he used when campaigning to be class treasurer.
I'd love to know more about the class treasurer rap. And he dissed his mom? That Eminem fellow has a lot to answer for.
School administrators called the disc, which includes a song about the principal, Mark Cerutti, and conditions at the school, "gross disobedience or misconduct," an offense on par with making a bomb threat, bringing guns to school and arson.
. . . The vulgar lyrics suggest that if Cerutti doesn't get out of Brookfield, Singh will "beat your ass down." Singh, a Brookfield Central junior, also uses a slew of sexually explicit slurs to describe Cerutti.
In his home on his own time, Singh rhymed rudely about the principal; he gave or sold the disc to a few classmates. The boy's lawyer now says he was expressing his opinion that his school is run like a "police state." No kidding.
Read the full story below:
School Principals Gone Wild
Friday, November 14, 2003
By Joanne Jacobs
Guns drawn, police officers raided the crack house, forcing criminals to the floor, handcuffing those slow to obey, searching them and using dogs to sniff out drugs.
Oh, but it wasn’t a crack house. It was Stratford High School in Goose Creek, S.C.. There were no criminals. Just kids who’d made it to school by 6:45 a.m. Police found no drugs, no weapons.
The principal of Goose Step High, as Michael Graham calls it, said students were seen on surveillance cameras acting suspiciously. If suspects were on videotape, why not get warrants to arrest them, rather than treating every student as guilty until proven innocent?
The Charleston Post & Courier (requires registration) reports on the raid:
Shortly after Sam (Ody) sat down in the cafeteria, a coach came up and told the students at his table to put their hands on the table. When the students asked why, they were told it was the principal's orders.
Then a police officer came over and bound Sam's hands behind his back with yellow restraints, took him into the hallway and told him to face the wall as a dog smelled his bag. He watched as his binders and folders were dumped out on the floor.
Then the principal, George McCrackin, patted him down, checked his shoes and took out his wallet, asking him where he got the approximately $100 he was carrying, Sam said. The student said he told McCrackin he had just gotten paid at his job at KFC.
"The people I hang out with are not drug dealers," Sam said. "We play basketball. We have nice clothes because we have jobs."
The school is 80 percent white. But 70 percent of students searched are black, like Sam Ody. It's going to be lawsuit time in Goose Creek.
Courtesy of BackCountry Conservative, here’s a discussion of the raid by locals, including police officers. They’re not happy either.
School vs. Bloggers
On his blog, Wesley Juhl joked about an irritating friend. "Kill Alaina!" he wrote. A month later, he was called to the dean's office at Valley High School in Clark County, Nevada. For the blog post and another making a vulgar comment about a teacher, Juhl was suspended. Then administrators realized Juhl's variance to attend Valley had expired; they forced him to transfer in his senior year to a new high school. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports:
Juhl, 18, is still wondering what authority allowed the Clark County School District to punish him. His journal was not a school assignment and was not posted using a school computer or a school message board.
"The dean told me that what I'd written wasn't school appropriate," said Juhl, who was Valley's homecoming king this year and also was president of its drama club. "He said it wasn't appropriate for a journal. I just feel like I've been violated, like they've punished me for expressing my personal opinion."
The dean didn't notify the police, suggesting the school didn't think Juhl was making a real threat.
Another Valley High blogger, Angie Scaduto, also was questioned by the dean about a blog post which began: "I almost killed everyone today."
The entry went on to explain all the things that had gone wrong that day, she said, and wasn't a threat against anyone. She also was asked about things she'd written about her mother and the fact that she'd said she'd taken cold medicine during lunch one day at school.
The only thing she did at school was take cold medicine. Apparently, Valley High has total tolerance for coughs, sneezes, sniffles and headaches.
If students are making death threats or planning to start an antihistamine ring operating out of the girls' restroom, call the cops. (Preferably not the Goose Creek commandos.) If teen-agers are rude, profane or "inappropriate" on their own time, it's none of the school's business.
But since Columbine, school officials see no limits to their right to police student speech and behavior.
In Brookfield, Wisc., a 15-year-old honor student was suspended for rapping -- on a CD he made at home -- about beating down the principal's ass. The vulgar boast was taken as a violent threat, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Over the course of three months, Sashwat Singh wrote and recorded a 32-minute, 14-track rap compact disc featuring rants that made reference to illegal drug use and explicit sexual acts. He denigrates classmates, his mother and his high school. One track is a rap he used when campaigning to be class treasurer.
I'd love to know more about the class treasurer rap. And he dissed his mom? That Eminem fellow has a lot to answer for.
School administrators called the disc, which includes a song about the principal, Mark Cerutti, and conditions at the school, "gross disobedience or misconduct," an offense on par with making a bomb threat, bringing guns to school and arson.
. . . The vulgar lyrics suggest that if Cerutti doesn't get out of Brookfield, Singh will "beat your ass down." Singh, a Brookfield Central junior, also uses a slew of sexually explicit slurs to describe Cerutti.
In his home on his own time, Singh rhymed rudely about the principal; he gave or sold the disc to a few classmates. The boy's lawyer now says he was expressing his opinion that his school is run like a "police state." No kidding.
A Is For Absent
Lauren Lee, 14, got an A in honors geometry at Sherwood High School in Montgomery County, Maryland. But Lee doesn’t attend Sherwood. She goes to a Catholic high school. This is taking grade inflation to new levels. From the Washington Times:
Two of the four teachers at Sherwood whose classes Lauren never attended gave her A's anyway, according to the Sept. 26 progress report school officials recently mailed home.
She didn't do as well in physics ("incomplete") or art (no credit), but it was an admirable performance for a student with 0 percent attendance.
Letters
Jim Hash, U.S. Army, Retired, of Reynolds, Ga., writes:
In regard to the class that built a trench to experience World War I, I thought your idea of knocking off a few students every day and extra credit for creative bayonet techniques was helpful. But I really think there should be mustard gas, so students could really feel what it was like to be a WWI soldier.
If the teacher was truly serious about imparting the grim realities of war to his students, I would suggest the following films be aired in class:
The Lost Battalion: WWI; Band of Brothers, episodes 3, 5, 6 & 7 (or Saving Private Ryan): WWII: We Were Soldiers: Vietnam
Joanne Jacobs writes about education and other issues at JoanneJacobs.com. She’s writing a book, Ride the Carrot Salad, about a start-up charter high school in San Jose.
November 13, 2003
Charlie Sykes: Hypersensitivity & hypocrisy
Hypersensitivity & hypocrisy
(link to original)
Nov 13 2003
By Charlie Sykes
WARNING: Hide this column from your kids.
You've read about the 15-year-old Brookfield Central student who got suspended for writing an insulting rap song, but before we get all grown up and indignant, I'd like to remind you of something we used to sing on the school bus:
(To the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic")
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the burning of the school,
We have tortured every teacher,
We have broken every rule.
We have bound and gagged the principal
And tossed him in the pool
The school is burning down.
Granted this was all pre-Columbine, but it was pretty graphic stuff. Especially the chorus:
Glory, glory, what's it to ya?
Teacher hit me with a ruler,
I hid behind the door with a loaded .44,
And she ain't gonna teach no more no more.
These days, if a busload of kids sang that song, they'd be surrounded by a SWAT team. Violence! Guns! Threats! Expulsions! News at 10!
Of course, we didn't actually mean any of those things we were singing about.
Nobody tied up the principal and tossed him in the pool. Nobody burned down the school. And everybody understood that.
But we were different than kids today. Right? Because when they sing songs about violent things, they might actually be planning mass killings. Or not.
Maybe, just maybe, they are just singing songs. A lot like we did.
What's different now is that a lot of grownups have a hard time telling the difference.
In Brookfield, Sashwat Singh rapped that if the principal didn't get out of town, Singh would "beat (his) ass down." That was enough to get him suspended for five days for "gross disobedience or misconduct," an offense equivalent to arson, making a bomb threat or bringing a gun to school.
Police even followed him home and confiscated his computer.
Nobody, however, seems to think he poses any kind of a threat to anybody. He insists he was just making a rap CD with words that rhymed.
It was apparently nasty stuff, and he probably should be made to serve detention and write letters of apology. But his CD was hardly as nasty as the lyrics teenagers in places like Brookfield listen to hour after hour, without either comment or alarm from the adultocracy.
How many parents really have any clue what their kids are listening to? The lyrics about "bitches and hos." The obscenity-laced paeans to thug culture, cop killing, drugs and rape.
How many care? We're part of a generation that's afraid to say "no" to our kids, because we don't want to be too judgmental, too much like our own fuddy-duddy parents.
So we hide behind zero tolerance.
Here's the irony: Adults can't bring themselves to condemn the violent lyrics of rap culture, but we can come down with all of our post-Columbine bureaucratic wrath when a child tries to imitate them.
Some role models we are.
Charlie Sykes is a WTMJ radio personality, author and journalist. Contact him at sykes@620wtmj.com.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
November 12, 2003
Walker: Sashwat proves a good judge of music
Sashwat proves a good judge of music
County Lines
by Laurel Walker
E-MAIL | ARCHIVE
Sashwat Singh is smarter than the raunchy rap CD that got him in trouble at Brookfield Central High School would lead you to believe.
"A lot of rap music is garbage, including mine," he told me Monday, after learning he would be returning to school Tuesday after a five-day suspension and wouldn't face a threatened expulsion.
Well, he's got that right.
A sizable segment of society eats up these kinds of vulgar, violent, homophobic and misogynic expressions that make up much of rap. That kids today imitate it - Brookfield's Singh, 15, among them - should surprise no one.
In fairness, one of Singh's raps is amusing - a campaign song used in his successful run for class treasurer, minus the gratuitous profanity he added to the recording.
But most of the compositions on Singh's homemade, 14-track CD are garbage - shocking in both the imagery and language used.
Singh's song about his principal, Mark Cerutti, and its perceived threat, is apparently what brought the administration down on his head. It's full of graphic sexual and homophobic images as well as some variation of the f-word 40-plus times in a spread of 2 minutes and 43 seconds.
There's reason, I think, to have disciplined Singh - for blatant disrespect of authority and extreme profanity - particularly since he handed out the CD to friends at school. But it's hardly threatening, and treating it on par with gun possession and a genuine threat was overreaction.
Singh, who admits he'd never talked to the principal before writing the rap, said the song is really about discontent with the principal's overuse of police at school. The message - if that's what it is - obviously got lost in all this.
Dilip Singh understands his son's frustration and shares his concern about principals who act like "highly paid 911 operators" by calling police rather than dealing squarely with issues on their own.
"But I don't agree with the way he (Sashwat) expressed it," Dilip Singh repeated.
After his family hired an attorney who defended Sashwat's First Amendment rights, the school district superintendent ruled the suspension was sufficient discipline, provided the junior meet with a counselor upon his return to school.
Worse than the song about Cerutti, though, was Sashwat's ode describing his mother in unspeakable terms. The same mother, I presume, whom he admirably portrayed in one line of another song: "My mother told me not to swear."
Sashwat explained: "I'd gotten grounded after a dance, and I was in a really bad mood" when he immediately wrote and recorded the denigrating song on his home computer. "It's not one of the songs I'm really proud of."
Dilip Singh said he's listened only to the song about the principal and the one about his wife, but his wife has not. At least not yet. Perhaps the lesson Sashwat needs most is to sit across the table from his mother while she listens, heartbroken and mortified, to the terrible things her son sang about her.
If Singh feels any remorse, "I mainly feel bad about the song I wrote about my mom because I don't feel that way."
A junior who entered school early and now is enrolled in honors and advanced placement classes, Sashwat Singh shares on one of his raps a particularly pertinent pearl of wisdom about purchasers of his CD:
"You know what sucks? You're (expletive) paying two cents for every one (expletive) minute I put on this CD so I'm kinda wasting your time right now. . . . I'm wasting your money and (expletive)."
Exactly.
From the Nov. 12, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
November 07, 2003
Editorial: Strong rap on the knuckles
Editorial: Strong rap on the knuckles
(link to original)
From the Journal Sentinel
In this post-Columbine world, Brookfield Central High School authorities had no choice but to suspend Sashwat Singh for creating a rap CD with violent and offensive lyrics, in which Singh denigrates classmates, his mother and his high school, and apparently threatens his principal.
As Ken Cole, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, points out, schools can't afford to take lightly any threat, even one buried in lyrics and made outside school. It "isn't a matter of all in good sport or fun," Cole said. "If some incident occurs a month from now, someone will say, 'You knew back then.' We have to treat every incident very seriously."
Beyond that, authorities - from parents to schools to police - need to send the message that violence and obscenities are unacceptable, no matter how prevalent both are in popular culture. Too often, adults are willing to let that message slide, often in the interest of trying to "relate" to children. That's laudable, but sometimes kids just need to be told "no."
Thus, the suspension issued by the school seems entirely appropriate under the circumstances. It also seems to be sufficient, unless further investigation reveals more disturbing elements in this incident that would warrant expulsion.
Singh did not bring a gun to school or try to sell drugs. The junior is a member of the school's band and choir and is enrolled in Advanced Placement and honors courses.
What he did may have been no worse than what kids his age have been doing since time immemorial: being outrageous just to annoy adults and win the admiration of his peers. And while the lyrics he wrote are certainly disturbing, they are hardly more disturbing than the lyrics of award-winning rapper Eminem and other popular artists.
So if further investigation reveals that Singh's transgressions are limited to the CD, it would seem that he has paid his debt to society. Anything more would be overkill.
From the Nov. 8, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Student Gets a Bad Rap
Posted by Shane @ Bureaucrash:
(link to original)
Sashwat Singh, a 15-year-old Brookfield High-school honor student, is facing expulsion for "threatening" lyrics in a rap CD he produced on his home computer. The contentious lyric that seems to be the source of the school's complaint apparently involves a reference to the principle's "gettin' beat down if he don't get out of town" -- clearly not a threat, but rather a stylistic idiom that's a regular part of the genre he was performing in. I could build a better case for the claim that last week's stadium full of Packer's fans is guilty of assault against Daunte Culpepper, due to the inevasible cries to "Kill Him!" being yelled from the stands.
Bloggers speak out about Sashwat's Suspension
A number of "bloggers" (folks who operate web logs, or "blogs" -- popular public online journals) took note of Sashwat's suspension, and I'm overdue in making note of them.
Kimberly Swygert decries the fact that when school officials nowadays say "We have to treat every incident very seriously," what they mean is that they can't use any personal judgment or common sense. In this case, it means they couldn't consider the fact that Sashwat is an honors student who meant no harm, in determining whether what he did was threatening.
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Indian blogger Om Malik says of Sashwat, "Damn - we got our own 50 Cent in the making."
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Joanne Jacobs, whose blog entry was combined with a number of others to create her "School Principals Gone Wild" piece for FoxNews, says this:
The boy's lawyer now says he was expressing his opinion that his school is run like a "police state." No kidding.
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Sajit Gandhi of DESIBLOGS posted, "I don't think making a CD is on par with bringing a gun to school, arson, or any sort of violent crimes. I think it is more of an exercise in free speech than anything else."
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Blogger Ryan MacMichael heard about Sashwat's situation, and repeated what so many of us who are already out of school have said:
If the sensitivity about kids' creative output was as high ten years ago as it is now, I would have been kicked out of school and charged with threatening students, teachers, and administrators.
He then goes on to add some very wise comments:
This goes far beyond being cautious. You can't just take words by themselves... you have to look at the individual, their history, their demeanor. The things I said (and sometimes still say) aren't indicative of what I'm going to do. If that was the case, every mystery or horror writer would need to be put in jail because their characters were doing something violent.
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Suman Palit makes this observation on his blog:
Every teenage button that is pushable, is not just being pushed. It's getting hammered into the bone by these idiots. They are raising a generation of angry, radicalized youth. A generation that is unlikely to trust the educational establishment to teach their own kids.
He then goes on to say tongue-in-cheek that he hopes Sashwat gets a record deal out of all this, and closes with a refrain very similar to Ryan's above:
A final thought occurs to me.. if I were a high school teen here in the US, this blog would probably get me committed to Guantanamo for several lifetimes.
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And last but not least, Glenn Reynolds of the super-blog InstaPundit simply called the Journal-Sentinel story that started this all, "more news from the educational quagmire".
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Sadly, Glenn's comment might be the most astute. If there is no lesson learned, and no progress made, and nothing productive accomplished via Sashwat's suspension, then it really does just end up being "more news from the educational quagmire".
Zero Patience for Zero Tolerance
Zero Patience for Zero ToleranceLink to original
Tuesday, November 25, 2003 By Wendy McElroy
News shows recently showed video of 14 police officers charging a crowded high-school corridor with guns drawn in a drug sweep. Students at Stratford Creek High School in Goose Creek, S.C., were forced onto their knees or against walls, while dogs sniffed their backpacks for drugs.
None were found. Although the incident was extreme, it was not an aberration but the logical consequences of "zero tolerance" policies, defended by both the school and the police. Zero tolerance must be abandoned, especially in connection with children.
Zero-tolerance policies have resulted in some children being placed in the criminal justice system. Two examples currently in the news: A Missouri judge ruled that a 6-year-old boy suspected of killing his grandfather could be charged as an adult; a New Jersey prosecutor's office has charged a 7-year-old boy with molesting a 5-year-old girl in an incident that the defense attorney describes as "playing doctor."
For most children, zero tolerance is experienced in schools with administrative rules that purportedly enforce safety and discipline. Arguably, the administrative rules are actually a reaction to federal threats to cut funds. For example, in 1994 Congress passed the Gun-Free School Act by which states had to implement zero tolerance on weapons or lose federal money. Many schools rigorously interpreted zero tolerance to include the prohibition of anything even looking like a weapon. They adopted broad definitions of dangerous behavior, which allowed for no exceptions.
Soon the media spilled over with stories of young children being suspended or treated like felons for playing with water pistols, paper guns or even for pointing their fingers at each other and saying "bang."
The punishment for possessing an obvious toy became the same as for possessing a real weapon because zero tolerance means zero distinctions. Zero tolerance takes discretion and evaluation away from educators and mandates responses that can be wildly inappropriate. Behavior that used to be corrected by detention or a trip to the principal's office now receives suspension, expulsion or even police involvement. What used to be the last resort has become the first and only option.
In Madison, Wis., Chris Schmidt, a sixth-grader with a spotless record, faced a year's suspension because he brought a kitchen knife to school for a science project. Asked about the case, Valencia Douglas, an assistant superintendent of schools in Madison, said, "We can't say, 'You're a good kid, so your mistake doesn't have as much force, or importance behind it.'"
And so, an 11-year-old is taken away in handcuffs for drawing a picture of a gun; an 8-year-old faces expulsion for a keychain that contained a cheap nail clipper; a fifth-grader is suspended for drawing the World Trade Center being hit by an airplane ... The stories go on and on.
The quantity of these incidents illustrates that the vicious consequences of zero tolerance are not isolated events. They are embedded into one of the most important institutions of society: the educational system. When the school principal in Goose Creek justified police pointing guns at innocent students, he did so by saying he would use "any means" to keep his school "clean."
A backlash is developing among students who are reportedly saying the same thing nationwide. Many schools now resemble prisons with hidden security cameras, metal detectors, guards, random searches, drug-sniffing dogs, and searches without warrants.
Zero tolerance is commonly justified on the grounds of children's safety. But, in studying "unsafe" schools that had enforced zero-tolerance policies for four years, the National Center for Education Statistics found little change (Skiba & Peterson, 1999).
In commenting on the study in the journal "National Association of Elementary School Principals," Roger W. Ashford wrote, "The study concludes, however, that even though there is little data to prove the effectiveness of zero-tolerance policies, such initiatives serve to reassure the public that something is being done to ensure safety. Therefore, the popularity of zero-tolerance policies may have less to do with their actual effect than the image they portray of schools taking harsh measures to prevent violence. Whether the message actually changes student behavior may be less important than the reassurance it provides to administrators, teachers and parents."
Everyone recognizes that zero-tolerance policies were developed in response to legitimate concerns, such as those raised by the high-school shootings at Columbine. But, increasingly, people are also recognizing that zero tolerance creates as many -- and perhaps more -- problems than the original difficulties they were meant to solve.
Alternatives are being suggested. For example, Richard L. Curwin and Allen N. Mendler have co-authored a book entitled "As Tough as Necessary: Countering Aggression, Violence, and Hostility in Schools" (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1999). They advocate a wide range of responses to school violence, which depend upon an evaluation of the circumstances surrounding each incident. The responses include "counseling, restitution, behavioral planning, behavior rehearsal, suspension with training or educational experience, and police referral."
Another alternative is homeschooling.
There is little evidence that zero tolerance produces safety. Instead, it strips away the safeguards of a peaceful society: compassion, due process, good will, presumption of innocence, tolerance, discretion, humor ... It victimizes the most vulnerable citizens: children.
Wendy McElroy is the editor of ifeminists.com and a research fellow for The Independent Institute in Oakland, Calif. She is the author and editor of many books and articles, including the new book, "Liberty for Women: Freedom and Feminism in the 21st Century" (Ivan R. Dee/Independent Institute, 2002). She lives with her husband in Canada.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)November 16, 2003
Suspension of student was too harsh, some say
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's "Jump" teen section:
Suspension of student was too harsh, some say
(link to original)
Last Updated: Nov. 16, 2003
We asked for your thoughts on the suspension of Brookfield Central High School student Sashwat Singh, 15, for making a rap CD at home that allegedly threatened his school's principal. Here's an edited sampling of what a few of you had to say:
Kelly MacAvaney, 16, junior, Greenfield High School: "I think that suspension in Singh's case was too much - especially since he did not distribute his CDs around school. The so-called threats in the track which insulted the principal seem simply reflective of the genre style during this time. Therefore, his CD was obviously created in the name of art - an often-debated topic, of course, but nonetheless quite an appropriate label in this case. True, guidelines need to be established in order to protect students and teachers from potential Dylan Klebolds and Eric Harrises (the killers in the 1999 Columbine High School shootings), but in Singh's case, this CD is not the creation of a gloating terrorist but an aspiring artist. (Completely off topic: I found it amusing that Sashwat's principal seemed threatened by getting his (expletive) beat down.)"
Cat McMurtry, 16, junior, Shorewood High School: "I think Principal Cerutti was just a little bit overzealous in his punishment of Singh. A five-day suspension from school seems just a bit harsh for allegations of "gross disobedience" and "misconduct" that the superintendent callously brushes away. I can definitely understand the position Singh takes, in that one should be able to record what one desires without persecution. He didn't take any physical actions against the principal, and this seems to be the first notable encounter Singh has had with the administration. However, I don't think the suspension was entirely undeserved. Had it been me as principal, I would have done the same thing, but perhaps to a lesser degree. I don't think we can blame Cerutti for being concerned about a CD circulating within his school, talking about 'beating his (expletive) down.'"
Nicholas Young, 15, Professional Learning Institute: "I think he shouldn't get kicked out of school because of what he expresses about the principal. I myself write raps about my teacher. They need to understand that this is the way we express our emotions about them. Also, I think that the teacher or principal shouldn't take it seriously. For example, Eminem writes about killing Kim (his former wife), but Eminem just did it to show his expression about the whole drama that was between them, about her cutting her wrists and then their divorce."
From the Nov. 17, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
November 14, 2003
FOXNews Commentary: School Principals Gone Wild
FOXNews.com - Views - JoanneJacobs.com - School Principals Gone Wild
This commentary about out-of-control school administrators features the following excerpt about Principal Cerutti:
But since Columbine, school officials see no limits to their right to police student speech and behavior.
In Brookfield, Wisc., a 15-year-old honor student was suspended for rapping -- on a CD he made at home -- about beating down the principal's ass. The vulgar boast was taken as a violent threat, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Over the course of three months, Sashwat Singh wrote and recorded a 32-minute, 14-track rap compact disc featuring rants that made reference to illegal drug use and explicit sexual acts. He denigrates classmates, his mother and his high school. One track is a rap he used when campaigning to be class treasurer.
I'd love to know more about the class treasurer rap. And he dissed his mom? That Eminem fellow has a lot to answer for.
School administrators called the disc, which includes a song about the principal, Mark Cerutti, and conditions at the school, "gross disobedience or misconduct," an offense on par with making a bomb threat, bringing guns to school and arson.
. . . The vulgar lyrics suggest that if Cerutti doesn't get out of Brookfield, Singh will "beat your ass down." Singh, a Brookfield Central junior, also uses a slew of sexually explicit slurs to describe Cerutti.
In his home on his own time, Singh rhymed rudely about the principal; he gave or sold the disc to a few classmates. The boy's lawyer now says he was expressing his opinion that his school is run like a "police state." No kidding.
Read the full story below:
School Principals Gone Wild
Friday, November 14, 2003
By Joanne Jacobs
Guns drawn, police officers raided the crack house, forcing criminals to the floor, handcuffing those slow to obey, searching them and using dogs to sniff out drugs.
Oh, but it wasn’t a crack house. It was Stratford High School in Goose Creek, S.C.. There were no criminals. Just kids who’d made it to school by 6:45 a.m. Police found no drugs, no weapons.
The principal of Goose Step High, as Michael Graham calls it, said students were seen on surveillance cameras acting suspiciously. If suspects were on videotape, why not get warrants to arrest them, rather than treating every student as guilty until proven innocent?
The Charleston Post & Courier (requires registration) reports on the raid:
Shortly after Sam (Ody) sat down in the cafeteria, a coach came up and told the students at his table to put their hands on the table. When the students asked why, they were told it was the principal's orders.
Then a police officer came over and bound Sam's hands behind his back with yellow restraints, took him into the hallway and told him to face the wall as a dog smelled his bag. He watched as his binders and folders were dumped out on the floor.
Then the principal, George McCrackin, patted him down, checked his shoes and took out his wallet, asking him where he got the approximately $100 he was carrying, Sam said. The student said he told McCrackin he had just gotten paid at his job at KFC.
"The people I hang out with are not drug dealers," Sam said. "We play basketball. We have nice clothes because we have jobs."
The school is 80 percent white. But 70 percent of students searched are black, like Sam Ody. It's going to be lawsuit time in Goose Creek.
Courtesy of BackCountry Conservative, here’s a discussion of the raid by locals, including police officers. They’re not happy either.
School vs. Bloggers
On his blog, Wesley Juhl joked about an irritating friend. "Kill Alaina!" he wrote. A month later, he was called to the dean's office at Valley High School in Clark County, Nevada. For the blog post and another making a vulgar comment about a teacher, Juhl was suspended. Then administrators realized Juhl's variance to attend Valley had expired; they forced him to transfer in his senior year to a new high school. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports:
Juhl, 18, is still wondering what authority allowed the Clark County School District to punish him. His journal was not a school assignment and was not posted using a school computer or a school message board.
"The dean told me that what I'd written wasn't school appropriate," said Juhl, who was Valley's homecoming king this year and also was president of its drama club. "He said it wasn't appropriate for a journal. I just feel like I've been violated, like they've punished me for expressing my personal opinion."
The dean didn't notify the police, suggesting the school didn't think Juhl was making a real threat.
Another Valley High blogger, Angie Scaduto, also was questioned by the dean about a blog post which began: "I almost killed everyone today."
The entry went on to explain all the things that had gone wrong that day, she said, and wasn't a threat against anyone. She also was asked about things she'd written about her mother and the fact that she'd said she'd taken cold medicine during lunch one day at school.
The only thing she did at school was take cold medicine. Apparently, Valley High has total tolerance for coughs, sneezes, sniffles and headaches.
If students are making death threats or planning to start an antihistamine ring operating out of the girls' restroom, call the cops. (Preferably not the Goose Creek commandos.) If teen-agers are rude, profane or "inappropriate" on their own time, it's none of the school's business.
But since Columbine, school officials see no limits to their right to police student speech and behavior.
In Brookfield, Wisc., a 15-year-old honor student was suspended for rapping -- on a CD he made at home -- about beating down the principal's ass. The vulgar boast was taken as a violent threat, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Over the course of three months, Sashwat Singh wrote and recorded a 32-minute, 14-track rap compact disc featuring rants that made reference to illegal drug use and explicit sexual acts. He denigrates classmates, his mother and his high school. One track is a rap he used when campaigning to be class treasurer.
I'd love to know more about the class treasurer rap. And he dissed his mom? That Eminem fellow has a lot to answer for.
School administrators called the disc, which includes a song about the principal, Mark Cerutti, and conditions at the school, "gross disobedience or misconduct," an offense on par with making a bomb threat, bringing guns to school and arson.
. . . The vulgar lyrics suggest that if Cerutti doesn't get out of Brookfield, Singh will "beat your ass down." Singh, a Brookfield Central junior, also uses a slew of sexually explicit slurs to describe Cerutti.
In his home on his own time, Singh rhymed rudely about the principal; he gave or sold the disc to a few classmates. The boy's lawyer now says he was expressing his opinion that his school is run like a "police state." No kidding.
A Is For Absent
Lauren Lee, 14, got an A in honors geometry at Sherwood High School in Montgomery County, Maryland. But Lee doesn’t attend Sherwood. She goes to a Catholic high school. This is taking grade inflation to new levels. From the Washington Times:
Two of the four teachers at Sherwood whose classes Lauren never attended gave her A's anyway, according to the Sept. 26 progress report school officials recently mailed home.
She didn't do as well in physics ("incomplete") or art (no credit), but it was an admirable performance for a student with 0 percent attendance.
Letters
Jim Hash, U.S. Army, Retired, of Reynolds, Ga., writes:
In regard to the class that built a trench to experience World War I, I thought your idea of knocking off a few students every day and extra credit for creative bayonet techniques was helpful. But I really think there should be mustard gas, so students could really feel what it was like to be a WWI soldier.
If the teacher was truly serious about imparting the grim realities of war to his students, I would suggest the following films be aired in class:
The Lost Battalion: WWI; Band of Brothers, episodes 3, 5, 6 & 7 (or Saving Private Ryan): WWII: We Were Soldiers: Vietnam
Joanne Jacobs writes about education and other issues at JoanneJacobs.com. She’s writing a book, Ride the Carrot Salad, about a start-up charter high school in San Jose.
November 13, 2003
Charlie Sykes: Hypersensitivity & hypocrisy
Hypersensitivity & hypocrisy
(link to original)
Nov 13 2003
By Charlie Sykes
WARNING: Hide this column from your kids.
You've read about the 15-year-old Brookfield Central student who got suspended for writing an insulting rap song, but before we get all grown up and indignant, I'd like to remind you of something we used to sing on the school bus:
(To the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic")
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the burning of the school,
We have tortured every teacher,
We have broken every rule.
We have bound and gagged the principal
And tossed him in the pool
The school is burning down.
Granted this was all pre-Columbine, but it was pretty graphic stuff. Especially the chorus:
Glory, glory, what's it to ya?
Teacher hit me with a ruler,
I hid behind the door with a loaded .44,
And she ain't gonna teach no more no more.
These days, if a busload of kids sang that song, they'd be surrounded by a SWAT team. Violence! Guns! Threats! Expulsions! News at 10!
Of course, we didn't actually mean any of those things we were singing about.
Nobody tied up the principal and tossed him in the pool. Nobody burned down the school. And everybody understood that.
But we were different than kids today. Right? Because when they sing songs about violent things, they might actually be planning mass killings. Or not.
Maybe, just maybe, they are just singing songs. A lot like we did.
What's different now is that a lot of grownups have a hard time telling the difference.
In Brookfield, Sashwat Singh rapped that if the principal didn't get out of town, Singh would "beat (his) ass down." That was enough to get him suspended for five days for "gross disobedience or misconduct," an offense equivalent to arson, making a bomb threat or bringing a gun to school.
Police even followed him home and confiscated his computer.
Nobody, however, seems to think he poses any kind of a threat to anybody. He insists he was just making a rap CD with words that rhymed.
It was apparently nasty stuff, and he probably should be made to serve detention and write letters of apology. But his CD was hardly as nasty as the lyrics teenagers in places like Brookfield listen to hour after hour, without either comment or alarm from the adultocracy.
How many parents really have any clue what their kids are listening to? The lyrics about "bitches and hos." The obscenity-laced paeans to thug culture, cop killing, drugs and rape.
How many care? We're part of a generation that's afraid to say "no" to our kids, because we don't want to be too judgmental, too much like our own fuddy-duddy parents.
So we hide behind zero tolerance.
Here's the irony: Adults can't bring themselves to condemn the violent lyrics of rap culture, but we can come down with all of our post-Columbine bureaucratic wrath when a child tries to imitate them.
Some role models we are.
Charlie Sykes is a WTMJ radio personality, author and journalist. Contact him at sykes@620wtmj.com.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
November 12, 2003
Walker: Sashwat proves a good judge of music
Sashwat proves a good judge of music
County Lines
by Laurel Walker
E-MAIL | ARCHIVE
Sashwat Singh is smarter than the raunchy rap CD that got him in trouble at Brookfield Central High School would lead you to believe.
"A lot of rap music is garbage, including mine," he told me Monday, after learning he would be returning to school Tuesday after a five-day suspension and wouldn't face a threatened expulsion.
Well, he's got that right.
A sizable segment of society eats up these kinds of vulgar, violent, homophobic and misogynic expressions that make up much of rap. That kids today imitate it - Brookfield's Singh, 15, among them - should surprise no one.
In fairness, one of Singh's raps is amusing - a campaign song used in his successful run for class treasurer, minus the gratuitous profanity he added to the recording.
But most of the compositions on Singh's homemade, 14-track CD are garbage - shocking in both the imagery and language used.
Singh's song about his principal, Mark Cerutti, and its perceived threat, is apparently what brought the administration down on his head. It's full of graphic sexual and homophobic images as well as some variation of the f-word 40-plus times in a spread of 2 minutes and 43 seconds.
There's reason, I think, to have disciplined Singh - for blatant disrespect of authority and extreme profanity - particularly since he handed out the CD to friends at school. But it's hardly threatening, and treating it on par with gun possession and a genuine threat was overreaction.
Singh, who admits he'd never talked to the principal before writing the rap, said the song is really about discontent with the principal's overuse of police at school. The message - if that's what it is - obviously got lost in all this.
Dilip Singh understands his son's frustration and shares his concern about principals who act like "highly paid 911 operators" by calling police rather than dealing squarely with issues on their own.
"But I don't agree with the way he (Sashwat) expressed it," Dilip Singh repeated.
After his family hired an attorney who defended Sashwat's First Amendment rights, the school district superintendent ruled the suspension was sufficient discipline, provided the junior meet with a counselor upon his return to school.
Worse than the song about Cerutti, though, was Sashwat's ode describing his mother in unspeakable terms. The same mother, I presume, whom he admirably portrayed in one line of another song: "My mother told me not to swear."
Sashwat explained: "I'd gotten grounded after a dance, and I was in a really bad mood" when he immediately wrote and recorded the denigrating song on his home computer. "It's not one of the songs I'm really proud of."
Dilip Singh said he's listened only to the song about the principal and the one about his wife, but his wife has not. At least not yet. Perhaps the lesson Sashwat needs most is to sit across the table from his mother while she listens, heartbroken and mortified, to the terrible things her son sang about her.
If Singh feels any remorse, "I mainly feel bad about the song I wrote about my mom because I don't feel that way."
A junior who entered school early and now is enrolled in honors and advanced placement classes, Sashwat Singh shares on one of his raps a particularly pertinent pearl of wisdom about purchasers of his CD:
"You know what sucks? You're (expletive) paying two cents for every one (expletive) minute I put on this CD so I'm kinda wasting your time right now. . . . I'm wasting your money and (expletive)."
Exactly.
From the Nov. 12, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
November 07, 2003
Editorial: Strong rap on the knuckles
Editorial: Strong rap on the knuckles
(link to original)
From the Journal Sentinel
In this post-Columbine world, Brookfield Central High School authorities had no choice but to suspend Sashwat Singh for creating a rap CD with violent and offensive lyrics, in which Singh denigrates classmates, his mother and his high school, and apparently threatens his principal.
As Ken Cole, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, points out, schools can't afford to take lightly any threat, even one buried in lyrics and made outside school. It "isn't a matter of all in good sport or fun," Cole said. "If some incident occurs a month from now, someone will say, 'You knew back then.' We have to treat every incident very seriously."
Beyond that, authorities - from parents to schools to police - need to send the message that violence and obscenities are unacceptable, no matter how prevalent both are in popular culture. Too often, adults are willing to let that message slide, often in the interest of trying to "relate" to children. That's laudable, but sometimes kids just need to be told "no."
Thus, the suspension issued by the school seems entirely appropriate under the circumstances. It also seems to be sufficient, unless further investigation reveals more disturbing elements in this incident that would warrant expulsion.
Singh did not bring a gun to school or try to sell drugs. The junior is a member of the school's band and choir and is enrolled in Advanced Placement and honors courses.
What he did may have been no worse than what kids his age have been doing since time immemorial: being outrageous just to annoy adults and win the admiration of his peers. And while the lyrics he wrote are certainly disturbing, they are hardly more disturbing than the lyrics of award-winning rapper Eminem and other popular artists.
So if further investigation reveals that Singh's transgressions are limited to the CD, it would seem that he has paid his debt to society. Anything more would be overkill.
From the Nov. 8, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Student Gets a Bad Rap
Posted by Shane @ Bureaucrash:
(link to original)
Sashwat Singh, a 15-year-old Brookfield High-school honor student, is facing expulsion for "threatening" lyrics in a rap CD he produced on his home computer. The contentious lyric that seems to be the source of the school's complaint apparently involves a reference to the principle's "gettin' beat down if he don't get out of town" -- clearly not a threat, but rather a stylistic idiom that's a regular part of the genre he was performing in. I could build a better case for the claim that last week's stadium full of Packer's fans is guilty of assault against Daunte Culpepper, due to the inevasible cries to "Kill Him!" being yelled from the stands.
Suspension of student was too harsh, some say
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's "Jump" teen section:
Suspension of student was too harsh, some say
(link to original)
Last Updated: Nov. 16, 2003
We asked for your thoughts on the suspension of Brookfield Central High School student Sashwat Singh, 15, for making a rap CD at home that allegedly threatened his school's principal. Here's an edited sampling of what a few of you had to say:
Kelly MacAvaney, 16, junior, Greenfield High School: "I think that suspension in Singh's case was too much - especially since he did not distribute his CDs around school. The so-called threats in the track which insulted the principal seem simply reflective of the genre style during this time. Therefore, his CD was obviously created in the name of art - an often-debated topic, of course, but nonetheless quite an appropriate label in this case. True, guidelines need to be established in order to protect students and teachers from potential Dylan Klebolds and Eric Harrises (the killers in the 1999 Columbine High School shootings), but in Singh's case, this CD is not the creation of a gloating terrorist but an aspiring artist. (Completely off topic: I found it amusing that Sashwat's principal seemed threatened by getting his (expletive) beat down.)"
Cat McMurtry, 16, junior, Shorewood High School: "I think Principal Cerutti was just a little bit overzealous in his punishment of Singh. A five-day suspension from school seems just a bit harsh for allegations of "gross disobedience" and "misconduct" that the superintendent callously brushes away. I can definitely understand the position Singh takes, in that one should be able to record what one desires without persecution. He didn't take any physical actions against the principal, and this seems to be the first notable encounter Singh has had with the administration. However, I don't think the suspension was entirely undeserved. Had it been me as principal, I would have done the same thing, but perhaps to a lesser degree. I don't think we can blame Cerutti for being concerned about a CD circulating within his school, talking about 'beating his (expletive) down.'"
Nicholas Young, 15, Professional Learning Institute: "I think he shouldn't get kicked out of school because of what he expresses about the principal. I myself write raps about my teacher. They need to understand that this is the way we express our emotions about them. Also, I think that the teacher or principal shouldn't take it seriously. For example, Eminem writes about killing Kim (his former wife), but Eminem just did it to show his expression about the whole drama that was between them, about her cutting her wrists and then their divorce."
From the Nov. 17, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
FOXNews Commentary: School Principals Gone Wild
FOXNews.com - Views - JoanneJacobs.com - School Principals Gone Wild
This commentary about out-of-control school administrators features the following excerpt about Principal Cerutti:
But since Columbine, school officials see no limits to their right to police student speech and behavior.
In Brookfield, Wisc., a 15-year-old honor student was suspended for rapping -- on a CD he made at home -- about beating down the principal's ass. The vulgar boast was taken as a violent threat, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Over the course of three months, Sashwat Singh wrote and recorded a 32-minute, 14-track rap compact disc featuring rants that made reference to illegal drug use and explicit sexual acts. He denigrates classmates, his mother and his high school. One track is a rap he used when campaigning to be class treasurer.
I'd love to know more about the class treasurer rap. And he dissed his mom? That Eminem fellow has a lot to answer for.
School administrators called the disc, which includes a song about the principal, Mark Cerutti, and conditions at the school, "gross disobedience or misconduct," an offense on par with making a bomb threat, bringing guns to school and arson.
. . . The vulgar lyrics suggest that if Cerutti doesn't get out of Brookfield, Singh will "beat your ass down." Singh, a Brookfield Central junior, also uses a slew of sexually explicit slurs to describe Cerutti.
In his home on his own time, Singh rhymed rudely about the principal; he gave or sold the disc to a few classmates. The boy's lawyer now says he was expressing his opinion that his school is run like a "police state." No kidding.
Read the full story below:
School Principals Gone Wild
Friday, November 14, 2003
By Joanne Jacobs
Guns drawn, police officers raided the crack house, forcing criminals to the floor, handcuffing those slow to obey, searching them and using dogs to sniff out drugs.
Oh, but it wasn’t a crack house. It was Stratford High School in Goose Creek, S.C.. There were no criminals. Just kids who’d made it to school by 6:45 a.m. Police found no drugs, no weapons.
The principal of Goose Step High, as Michael Graham calls it, said students were seen on surveillance cameras acting suspiciously. If suspects were on videotape, why not get warrants to arrest them, rather than treating every student as guilty until proven innocent?
The Charleston Post & Courier (requires registration) reports on the raid:
Shortly after Sam (Ody) sat down in the cafeteria, a coach came up and told the students at his table to put their hands on the table. When the students asked why, they were told it was the principal's orders.
Then a police officer came over and bound Sam's hands behind his back with yellow restraints, took him into the hallway and told him to face the wall as a dog smelled his bag. He watched as his binders and folders were dumped out on the floor.
Then the principal, George McCrackin, patted him down, checked his shoes and took out his wallet, asking him where he got the approximately $100 he was carrying, Sam said. The student said he told McCrackin he had just gotten paid at his job at KFC.
"The people I hang out with are not drug dealers," Sam said. "We play basketball. We have nice clothes because we have jobs."
The school is 80 percent white. But 70 percent of students searched are black, like Sam Ody. It's going to be lawsuit time in Goose Creek.
Courtesy of BackCountry Conservative, here’s a discussion of the raid by locals, including police officers. They’re not happy either.
School vs. Bloggers
On his blog, Wesley Juhl joked about an irritating friend. "Kill Alaina!" he wrote. A month later, he was called to the dean's office at Valley High School in Clark County, Nevada. For the blog post and another making a vulgar comment about a teacher, Juhl was suspended. Then administrators realized Juhl's variance to attend Valley had expired; they forced him to transfer in his senior year to a new high school. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports:
Juhl, 18, is still wondering what authority allowed the Clark County School District to punish him. His journal was not a school assignment and was not posted using a school computer or a school message board.
"The dean told me that what I'd written wasn't school appropriate," said Juhl, who was Valley's homecoming king this year and also was president of its drama club. "He said it wasn't appropriate for a journal. I just feel like I've been violated, like they've punished me for expressing my personal opinion."
The dean didn't notify the police, suggesting the school didn't think Juhl was making a real threat.
Another Valley High blogger, Angie Scaduto, also was questioned by the dean about a blog post which began: "I almost killed everyone today."
The entry went on to explain all the things that had gone wrong that day, she said, and wasn't a threat against anyone. She also was asked about things she'd written about her mother and the fact that she'd said she'd taken cold medicine during lunch one day at school.
The only thing she did at school was take cold medicine. Apparently, Valley High has total tolerance for coughs, sneezes, sniffles and headaches.
If students are making death threats or planning to start an antihistamine ring operating out of the girls' restroom, call the cops. (Preferably not the Goose Creek commandos.) If teen-agers are rude, profane or "inappropriate" on their own time, it's none of the school's business.
But since Columbine, school officials see no limits to their right to police student speech and behavior.
In Brookfield, Wisc., a 15-year-old honor student was suspended for rapping -- on a CD he made at home -- about beating down the principal's ass. The vulgar boast was taken as a violent threat, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Over the course of three months, Sashwat Singh wrote and recorded a 32-minute, 14-track rap compact disc featuring rants that made reference to illegal drug use and explicit sexual acts. He denigrates classmates, his mother and his high school. One track is a rap he used when campaigning to be class treasurer.
I'd love to know more about the class treasurer rap. And he dissed his mom? That Eminem fellow has a lot to answer for.
School administrators called the disc, which includes a song about the principal, Mark Cerutti, and conditions at the school, "gross disobedience or misconduct," an offense on par with making a bomb threat, bringing guns to school and arson.
. . . The vulgar lyrics suggest that if Cerutti doesn't get out of Brookfield, Singh will "beat your ass down." Singh, a Brookfield Central junior, also uses a slew of sexually explicit slurs to describe Cerutti.
In his home on his own time, Singh rhymed rudely about the principal; he gave or sold the disc to a few classmates. The boy's lawyer now says he was expressing his opinion that his school is run like a "police state." No kidding.
A Is For Absent
Lauren Lee, 14, got an A in honors geometry at Sherwood High School in Montgomery County, Maryland. But Lee doesn’t attend Sherwood. She goes to a Catholic high school. This is taking grade inflation to new levels. From the Washington Times:
Two of the four teachers at Sherwood whose classes Lauren never attended gave her A's anyway, according to the Sept. 26 progress report school officials recently mailed home.
She didn't do as well in physics ("incomplete") or art (no credit), but it was an admirable performance for a student with 0 percent attendance.
Letters
Jim Hash, U.S. Army, Retired, of Reynolds, Ga., writes:
In regard to the class that built a trench to experience World War I, I thought your idea of knocking off a few students every day and extra credit for creative bayonet techniques was helpful. But I really think there should be mustard gas, so students could really feel what it was like to be a WWI soldier.
If the teacher was truly serious about imparting the grim realities of war to his students, I would suggest the following films be aired in class:
The Lost Battalion: WWI; Band of Brothers, episodes 3, 5, 6 & 7 (or Saving Private Ryan): WWII: We Were Soldiers: Vietnam
Joanne Jacobs writes about education and other issues at JoanneJacobs.com. She’s writing a book, Ride the Carrot Salad, about a start-up charter high school in San Jose.
November 13, 2003
Charlie Sykes: Hypersensitivity & hypocrisy
Hypersensitivity & hypocrisy
(link to original)
Nov 13 2003
By Charlie Sykes
WARNING: Hide this column from your kids.
You've read about the 15-year-old Brookfield Central student who got suspended for writing an insulting rap song, but before we get all grown up and indignant, I'd like to remind you of something we used to sing on the school bus:
(To the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic")
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the burning of the school,
We have tortured every teacher,
We have broken every rule.
We have bound and gagged the principal
And tossed him in the pool
The school is burning down.
Granted this was all pre-Columbine, but it was pretty graphic stuff. Especially the chorus:
Glory, glory, what's it to ya?
Teacher hit me with a ruler,
I hid behind the door with a loaded .44,
And she ain't gonna teach no more no more.
These days, if a busload of kids sang that song, they'd be surrounded by a SWAT team. Violence! Guns! Threats! Expulsions! News at 10!
Of course, we didn't actually mean any of those things we were singing about.
Nobody tied up the principal and tossed him in the pool. Nobody burned down the school. And everybody understood that.
But we were different than kids today. Right? Because when they sing songs about violent things, they might actually be planning mass killings. Or not.
Maybe, just maybe, they are just singing songs. A lot like we did.
What's different now is that a lot of grownups have a hard time telling the difference.
In Brookfield, Sashwat Singh rapped that if the principal didn't get out of town, Singh would "beat (his) ass down." That was enough to get him suspended for five days for "gross disobedience or misconduct," an offense equivalent to arson, making a bomb threat or bringing a gun to school.
Police even followed him home and confiscated his computer.
Nobody, however, seems to think he poses any kind of a threat to anybody. He insists he was just making a rap CD with words that rhymed.
It was apparently nasty stuff, and he probably should be made to serve detention and write letters of apology. But his CD was hardly as nasty as the lyrics teenagers in places like Brookfield listen to hour after hour, without either comment or alarm from the adultocracy.
How many parents really have any clue what their kids are listening to? The lyrics about "bitches and hos." The obscenity-laced paeans to thug culture, cop killing, drugs and rape.
How many care? We're part of a generation that's afraid to say "no" to our kids, because we don't want to be too judgmental, too much like our own fuddy-duddy parents.
So we hide behind zero tolerance.
Here's the irony: Adults can't bring themselves to condemn the violent lyrics of rap culture, but we can come down with all of our post-Columbine bureaucratic wrath when a child tries to imitate them.
Some role models we are.
Charlie Sykes is a WTMJ radio personality, author and journalist. Contact him at sykes@620wtmj.com.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
November 12, 2003
Walker: Sashwat proves a good judge of music
Sashwat proves a good judge of music
County Lines
by Laurel Walker
E-MAIL | ARCHIVE
Sashwat Singh is smarter than the raunchy rap CD that got him in trouble at Brookfield Central High School would lead you to believe.
"A lot of rap music is garbage, including mine," he told me Monday, after learning he would be returning to school Tuesday after a five-day suspension and wouldn't face a threatened expulsion.
Well, he's got that right.
A sizable segment of society eats up these kinds of vulgar, violent, homophobic and misogynic expressions that make up much of rap. That kids today imitate it - Brookfield's Singh, 15, among them - should surprise no one.
In fairness, one of Singh's raps is amusing - a campaign song used in his successful run for class treasurer, minus the gratuitous profanity he added to the recording.
But most of the compositions on Singh's homemade, 14-track CD are garbage - shocking in both the imagery and language used.
Singh's song about his principal, Mark Cerutti, and its perceived threat, is apparently what brought the administration down on his head. It's full of graphic sexual and homophobic images as well as some variation of the f-word 40-plus times in a spread of 2 minutes and 43 seconds.
There's reason, I think, to have disciplined Singh - for blatant disrespect of authority and extreme profanity - particularly since he handed out the CD to friends at school. But it's hardly threatening, and treating it on par with gun possession and a genuine threat was overreaction.
Singh, who admits he'd never talked to the principal before writing the rap, said the song is really about discontent with the principal's overuse of police at school. The message - if that's what it is - obviously got lost in all this.
Dilip Singh understands his son's frustration and shares his concern about principals who act like "highly paid 911 operators" by calling police rather than dealing squarely with issues on their own.
"But I don't agree with the way he (Sashwat) expressed it," Dilip Singh repeated.
After his family hired an attorney who defended Sashwat's First Amendment rights, the school district superintendent ruled the suspension was sufficient discipline, provided the junior meet with a counselor upon his return to school.
Worse than the song about Cerutti, though, was Sashwat's ode describing his mother in unspeakable terms. The same mother, I presume, whom he admirably portrayed in one line of another song: "My mother told me not to swear."
Sashwat explained: "I'd gotten grounded after a dance, and I was in a really bad mood" when he immediately wrote and recorded the denigrating song on his home computer. "It's not one of the songs I'm really proud of."
Dilip Singh said he's listened only to the song about the principal and the one about his wife, but his wife has not. At least not yet. Perhaps the lesson Sashwat needs most is to sit across the table from his mother while she listens, heartbroken and mortified, to the terrible things her son sang about her.
If Singh feels any remorse, "I mainly feel bad about the song I wrote about my mom because I don't feel that way."
A junior who entered school early and now is enrolled in honors and advanced placement classes, Sashwat Singh shares on one of his raps a particularly pertinent pearl of wisdom about purchasers of his CD:
"You know what sucks? You're (expletive) paying two cents for every one (expletive) minute I put on this CD so I'm kinda wasting your time right now. . . . I'm wasting your money and (expletive)."
Exactly.
From the Nov. 12, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
November 07, 2003
Editorial: Strong rap on the knuckles
Editorial: Strong rap on the knuckles
(link to original)
From the Journal Sentinel
In this post-Columbine world, Brookfield Central High School authorities had no choice but to suspend Sashwat Singh for creating a rap CD with violent and offensive lyrics, in which Singh denigrates classmates, his mother and his high school, and apparently threatens his principal.
As Ken Cole, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, points out, schools can't afford to take lightly any threat, even one buried in lyrics and made outside school. It "isn't a matter of all in good sport or fun," Cole said. "If some incident occurs a month from now, someone will say, 'You knew back then.' We have to treat every incident very seriously."
Beyond that, authorities - from parents to schools to police - need to send the message that violence and obscenities are unacceptable, no matter how prevalent both are in popular culture. Too often, adults are willing to let that message slide, often in the interest of trying to "relate" to children. That's laudable, but sometimes kids just need to be told "no."
Thus, the suspension issued by the school seems entirely appropriate under the circumstances. It also seems to be sufficient, unless further investigation reveals more disturbing elements in this incident that would warrant expulsion.
Singh did not bring a gun to school or try to sell drugs. The junior is a member of the school's band and choir and is enrolled in Advanced Placement and honors courses.
What he did may have been no worse than what kids his age have been doing since time immemorial: being outrageous just to annoy adults and win the admiration of his peers. And while the lyrics he wrote are certainly disturbing, they are hardly more disturbing than the lyrics of award-winning rapper Eminem and other popular artists.
So if further investigation reveals that Singh's transgressions are limited to the CD, it would seem that he has paid his debt to society. Anything more would be overkill.
From the Nov. 8, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Student Gets a Bad Rap
Posted by Shane @ Bureaucrash:
(link to original)
Sashwat Singh, a 15-year-old Brookfield High-school honor student, is facing expulsion for "threatening" lyrics in a rap CD he produced on his home computer. The contentious lyric that seems to be the source of the school's complaint apparently involves a reference to the principle's "gettin' beat down if he don't get out of town" -- clearly not a threat, but rather a stylistic idiom that's a regular part of the genre he was performing in. I could build a better case for the claim that last week's stadium full of Packer's fans is guilty of assault against Daunte Culpepper, due to the inevasible cries to "Kill Him!" being yelled from the stands.
Charlie Sykes: Hypersensitivity & hypocrisy
Hypersensitivity & hypocrisy
(link to original)
Nov 13 2003
By Charlie Sykes
WARNING: Hide this column from your kids.
You've read about the 15-year-old Brookfield Central student who got suspended for writing an insulting rap song, but before we get all grown up and indignant, I'd like to remind you of something we used to sing on the school bus:
(To the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic")
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the burning of the school,
We have tortured every teacher,
We have broken every rule.
We have bound and gagged the principal
And tossed him in the pool
The school is burning down.
Granted this was all pre-Columbine, but it was pretty graphic stuff. Especially the chorus:
Glory, glory, what's it to ya?
Teacher hit me with a ruler,
I hid behind the door with a loaded .44,
And she ain't gonna teach no more no more.
These days, if a busload of kids sang that song, they'd be surrounded by a SWAT team. Violence! Guns! Threats! Expulsions! News at 10!
Of course, we didn't actually mean any of those things we were singing about.
Nobody tied up the principal and tossed him in the pool. Nobody burned down the school. And everybody understood that.
But we were different than kids today. Right? Because when they sing songs about violent things, they might actually be planning mass killings. Or not.
Maybe, just maybe, they are just singing songs. A lot like we did.
What's different now is that a lot of grownups have a hard time telling the difference.
In Brookfield, Sashwat Singh rapped that if the principal didn't get out of town, Singh would "beat (his) ass down." That was enough to get him suspended for five days for "gross disobedience or misconduct," an offense equivalent to arson, making a bomb threat or bringing a gun to school.
Police even followed him home and confiscated his computer.
Nobody, however, seems to think he poses any kind of a threat to anybody. He insists he was just making a rap CD with words that rhymed.
It was apparently nasty stuff, and he probably should be made to serve detention and write letters of apology. But his CD was hardly as nasty as the lyrics teenagers in places like Brookfield listen to hour after hour, without either comment or alarm from the adultocracy.
How many parents really have any clue what their kids are listening to? The lyrics about "bitches and hos." The obscenity-laced paeans to thug culture, cop killing, drugs and rape.
How many care? We're part of a generation that's afraid to say "no" to our kids, because we don't want to be too judgmental, too much like our own fuddy-duddy parents.
So we hide behind zero tolerance.
Here's the irony: Adults can't bring themselves to condemn the violent lyrics of rap culture, but we can come down with all of our post-Columbine bureaucratic wrath when a child tries to imitate them.
Some role models we are.
Charlie Sykes is a WTMJ radio personality, author and journalist. Contact him at sykes@620wtmj.com.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Walker: Sashwat proves a good judge of music
Sashwat proves a good judge of music
County Lines
by Laurel Walker
E-MAIL | ARCHIVE
Sashwat Singh is smarter than the raunchy rap CD that got him in trouble at Brookfield Central High School would lead you to believe.
"A lot of rap music is garbage, including mine," he told me Monday, after learning he would be returning to school Tuesday after a five-day suspension and wouldn't face a threatened expulsion.
Well, he's got that right.
A sizable segment of society eats up these kinds of vulgar, violent, homophobic and misogynic expressions that make up much of rap. That kids today imitate it - Brookfield's Singh, 15, among them - should surprise no one.
In fairness, one of Singh's raps is amusing - a campaign song used in his successful run for class treasurer, minus the gratuitous profanity he added to the recording.
But most of the compositions on Singh's homemade, 14-track CD are garbage - shocking in both the imagery and language used.
Singh's song about his principal, Mark Cerutti, and its perceived threat, is apparently what brought the administration down on his head. It's full of graphic sexual and homophobic images as well as some variation of the f-word 40-plus times in a spread of 2 minutes and 43 seconds.
There's reason, I think, to have disciplined Singh - for blatant disrespect of authority and extreme profanity - particularly since he handed out the CD to friends at school. But it's hardly threatening, and treating it on par with gun possession and a genuine threat was overreaction.
Singh, who admits he'd never talked to the principal before writing the rap, said the song is really about discontent with the principal's overuse of police at school. The message - if that's what it is - obviously got lost in all this.
Dilip Singh understands his son's frustration and shares his concern about principals who act like "highly paid 911 operators" by calling police rather than dealing squarely with issues on their own.
"But I don't agree with the way he (Sashwat) expressed it," Dilip Singh repeated.
After his family hired an attorney who defended Sashwat's First Amendment rights, the school district superintendent ruled the suspension was sufficient discipline, provided the junior meet with a counselor upon his return to school.
Worse than the song about Cerutti, though, was Sashwat's ode describing his mother in unspeakable terms. The same mother, I presume, whom he admirably portrayed in one line of another song: "My mother told me not to swear."
Sashwat explained: "I'd gotten grounded after a dance, and I was in a really bad mood" when he immediately wrote and recorded the denigrating song on his home computer. "It's not one of the songs I'm really proud of."
Dilip Singh said he's listened only to the song about the principal and the one about his wife, but his wife has not. At least not yet. Perhaps the lesson Sashwat needs most is to sit across the table from his mother while she listens, heartbroken and mortified, to the terrible things her son sang about her.
If Singh feels any remorse, "I mainly feel bad about the song I wrote about my mom because I don't feel that way."
A junior who entered school early and now is enrolled in honors and advanced placement classes, Sashwat Singh shares on one of his raps a particularly pertinent pearl of wisdom about purchasers of his CD:
"You know what sucks? You're (expletive) paying two cents for every one (expletive) minute I put on this CD so I'm kinda wasting your time right now. . . . I'm wasting your money and (expletive)."
Exactly.
From the Nov. 12, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
November 07, 2003
Editorial: Strong rap on the knuckles
Editorial: Strong rap on the knuckles
(link to original)
From the Journal Sentinel
In this post-Columbine world, Brookfield Central High School authorities had no choice but to suspend Sashwat Singh for creating a rap CD with violent and offensive lyrics, in which Singh denigrates classmates, his mother and his high school, and apparently threatens his principal.
As Ken Cole, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, points out, schools can't afford to take lightly any threat, even one buried in lyrics and made outside school. It "isn't a matter of all in good sport or fun," Cole said. "If some incident occurs a month from now, someone will say, 'You knew back then.' We have to treat every incident very seriously."
Beyond that, authorities - from parents to schools to police - need to send the message that violence and obscenities are unacceptable, no matter how prevalent both are in popular culture. Too often, adults are willing to let that message slide, often in the interest of trying to "relate" to children. That's laudable, but sometimes kids just need to be told "no."
Thus, the suspension issued by the school seems entirely appropriate under the circumstances. It also seems to be sufficient, unless further investigation reveals more disturbing elements in this incident that would warrant expulsion.
Singh did not bring a gun to school or try to sell drugs. The junior is a member of the school's band and choir and is enrolled in Advanced Placement and honors courses.
What he did may have been no worse than what kids his age have been doing since time immemorial: being outrageous just to annoy adults and win the admiration of his peers. And while the lyrics he wrote are certainly disturbing, they are hardly more disturbing than the lyrics of award-winning rapper Eminem and other popular artists.
So if further investigation reveals that Singh's transgressions are limited to the CD, it would seem that he has paid his debt to society. Anything more would be overkill.
From the Nov. 8, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Student Gets a Bad Rap
Posted by Shane @ Bureaucrash:
(link to original)
Sashwat Singh, a 15-year-old Brookfield High-school honor student, is facing expulsion for "threatening" lyrics in a rap CD he produced on his home computer. The contentious lyric that seems to be the source of the school's complaint apparently involves a reference to the principle's "gettin' beat down if he don't get out of town" -- clearly not a threat, but rather a stylistic idiom that's a regular part of the genre he was performing in. I could build a better case for the claim that last week's stadium full of Packer's fans is guilty of assault against Daunte Culpepper, due to the inevasible cries to "Kill Him!" being yelled from the stands.
Editorial: Strong rap on the knuckles
Editorial: Strong rap on the knuckles
(link to original)
From the Journal Sentinel
In this post-Columbine world, Brookfield Central High School authorities had no choice but to suspend Sashwat Singh for creating a rap CD with violent and offensive lyrics, in which Singh denigrates classmates, his mother and his high school, and apparently threatens his principal.
As Ken Cole, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, points out, schools can't afford to take lightly any threat, even one buried in lyrics and made outside school. It "isn't a matter of all in good sport or fun," Cole said. "If some incident occurs a month from now, someone will say, 'You knew back then.' We have to treat every incident very seriously."
Beyond that, authorities - from parents to schools to police - need to send the message that violence and obscenities are unacceptable, no matter how prevalent both are in popular culture. Too often, adults are willing to let that message slide, often in the interest of trying to "relate" to children. That's laudable, but sometimes kids just need to be told "no."
Thus, the suspension issued by the school seems entirely appropriate under the circumstances. It also seems to be sufficient, unless further investigation reveals more disturbing elements in this incident that would warrant expulsion.
Singh did not bring a gun to school or try to sell drugs. The junior is a member of the school's band and choir and is enrolled in Advanced Placement and honors courses.
What he did may have been no worse than what kids his age have been doing since time immemorial: being outrageous just to annoy adults and win the admiration of his peers. And while the lyrics he wrote are certainly disturbing, they are hardly more disturbing than the lyrics of award-winning rapper Eminem and other popular artists.
So if further investigation reveals that Singh's transgressions are limited to the CD, it would seem that he has paid his debt to society. Anything more would be overkill.
From the Nov. 8, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Student Gets a Bad Rap
Posted by Shane @ Bureaucrash:
(link to original)
Sashwat Singh, a 15-year-old Brookfield High-school honor student, is facing expulsion for "threatening" lyrics in a rap CD he produced on his home computer. The contentious lyric that seems to be the source of the school's complaint apparently involves a reference to the principle's "gettin' beat down if he don't get out of town" -- clearly not a threat, but rather a stylistic idiom that's a regular part of the genre he was performing in. I could build a better case for the claim that last week's stadium full of Packer's fans is guilty of assault against Daunte Culpepper, due to the inevasible cries to "Kill Him!" being yelled from the stands.
