I'm talking original tetris - A+B to rotate, left and right for direction, up and down for instant down/fast down.

Gameboy style.

nothing funny about it, but this is the only thread that had something on the First Amendment in it

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookou ... ed-teacher

You can read the whole article, or just this part, since this is what annoyed me (probably since i'm a teacher as well and i wondered what i would do in this situation).

McDowell was suspended for one day without pay after the student in question complained about the removal of her belt buckle. The staff attorney for Michigan's American Civil Liberties Union chapter, Jay Kaplan, tells The Lookout that the case represents a "balancing act" between protecting free speech and creating a safe school environment, but that both students were most likely protected by the First Amendment. "Wearing [the Confederate flag] on the belt buckle probably is protected speech," he said, based on court precedents. "The situation where the student expressed his disapproval of homosexuality is also protected speech."

He said the "well-meaning" McDowell should have instead started a discussion about why the Confederate flag is a symbol of hate for so many and how denigrating homosexuality marginalizes gay people. The ACLU has offered to host training sessions for teachers about what the law says.

So if i'm a teacher there and one of the students walks in with a nazi-swashtika t-shirt yelling they should kill all jews, i should start a discussion ... yeah right. Another prime example of people who have absolutely no experience with working with youngsters but still get to write the guidelines on how to teach etc.

Mm maybe this should be in 'i hate my job' topic (not that i hate it at all, just that some parts can get very very frustrating).

Perhaps you should just ignore the kid because a row is all he wants?
But I don't have experience with working with yougsters either.

If a kid is annoying you can indeed ignore him, that will work often.
But if he's wearing/saying racist stuff it's another ballgame imho.

Might as well add another rant against America while i'm at it (j/k ):
http://whoknew.news.yahoo.com/?nc&vid=23044783

I know america has a whole other degree of patriotism and i guess they feel their history is important, but on the other hand ... 6/10 questions, sounds more like a pop-quiz you would play online while bored then a true test of 'americanship'. There might be more to the application than just that test .. i hope.

unless things have changed greatly over the last 40 years, there's no way that's all that someone has to do to become an American citizen. My mother immigrated before my birth and went through the whole process. She said it was quite difficult.

Regarding the free speech thing, if all the guy was doing was wearing a confederate belt buckle, I don't see why the teacher screwed with him. so what? Yes, there's an association with slavery and whatnot, but there's more to it than just that. If someone came in wearing a swastika... whatever. They'd just look like an idiot.

If they started talking smack, though, that's different. In that case, send them to the principal's office. Remove the disruptive influence and let the school administration deal with it.

I don't think a teacher should ever tell someone to remove an offensive article of clothing. If it's offensive, send them to the principal's office. Personally, I wore satanic paraphernalia to school, but no one ever said anything about it to me. I was also a good student. :p Shiny, on the other hand, in this lovely bible area, was forced to put a 'book cover' on her satanic bible after she refused to not bring it to school. Meanwhile, it's perfectly ok for people to bring Christian bibles to school? Nothing boils my blood like hypocrisy.

err, oops. </rant>

sheesh, I got sidetracked.

USB - Satan's Data Connection

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/the-l ... 0/nov/15/3

I am so excited that Satis actually remembers that story. Basically I was reading the satanic bible as a story much like I did the holy bible. I was given crap by the staff for it even though it was done in my free time. I argued I should be able to read any book while in free time the principal disagreed. He said it was offensive to which I said that many people read the holy bible during free time. He said he had never seen that so... I said oh yea.... and I went up to a girl I knew was a bit extremist and asked if she had her bible..... she said yes and proceeded to bring out 3 copies!!!! the principal told her to put them away etc. he then said I still could not have mine. I said I would take it to the school board and he agreed I could have it with a book cover on it. I was like fine but.... I drew a pentagram on the cover and labeled it the satanic bible haha. so I worked the rules but that was crap. Who wants to discourage reading. Just because one reads something does not mean they believe it.

LOL

Jeez, why does anyone have three bibles at school? Did she have like 3 different editions? That smells like cherrypicking from scripture.

I'm not really sure on the confederate belt (can't say I'm an expert on it as a symbol) but homophobic talk, yeah I'd have hit the kid hard with some sort of punishment. Same with racist talk. There are some limits to expressing your personal view, imho, and definitely within an educational/public environment.

Either way, the kid sounds like a major redneck...from Michigan.

The point of the first amendment isn't that you can say anything you want without repercussions. It means that the government can't tell you what you can and can't say, but you can still be held accountable for it. That's why private businesses aren't bound by the first amendment... it applies only to the government. It also means you can talk trash about someone... but they can also sue you for libel without violating your first amendment rights. Since schools are government run, they are subject to the first amendment, so they cant' ban you from expressing yourself. but if that expression violates another rule, they can still punish you.

In the south, the confederate flag is looked upon fondly by many people. There may be an association with slavery, but that doesn't really matter. Wearing a shirt that says "I hate nigger fags", however, is something else entirely.

I understand your explanation, but what's the point of allowing people to be ignorant fucktards just as long as no one sues them because they feel attacked? I just don't see much value in a freedom of being able to say racist or homophobic things in an environment that doesn't condemn them (or perhaps even encourages them). There just isn't anything constructive or valuable about it for society, so it seems rather pointless.

Confused.... it's not legal to say racist or homophobic things. There are laws that make hate speech and whatnot illegal. I'm not defending anyone's right to do that, but having a confederate flag isn't racist or homophobic. It has greater meaning, though a lot of people do associate the two. Just because people are ignorant of the meaning of the confederate flag doesn't mean it should be banned.

Heh...and no, I don't have a confederate flag, nor do I feel any kind of bond to the whole confederate thing like some southerners do. However, I defend their right to display the flag and have their beliefs. Being a bigot is, in my opinion, a separate issue.

Also: Cool, I misunderstood your previous post. I know you weren't defending anyone's right to be a homophobe or racist, I just didn't get what you were saying about the laws in place dealing with them. As for the confederate flag, fair enough. Like I said, I don't have the necessary knowledge to make a judgement on that so I take your word for it.