Students Rights :: essays research papers

Students Rightsby Q.T.M. McConnell     Are you in the mood for some good reading? The other day I was in the guidance Office looking for guidance when I saw an unassuming three page packet.Having nothing else to do, I picked one up and began reading. I carryed thatthe tell of this little manual is the Students Rights and Responsibilities Bill.I thought to myself, "my, what a great place is La Follette, that I back tooth simplywalk into my guidance office and learn my rights as a student. But wait, whymust I pursue this information on my own? Why isnt this information in myhandy handbook issued to me at the beginning of the school year? I ought toread this" So I read. Soon I realized why our School lineup whitethorn not wantstudents realizing what we are actually entitled to. Right away in the Preamble,it states "students have the responsibility to respect rights of all personsinvolved in the educational process and exercise the highest degree of self-discipline in observing and adhering to legitimate rules." The first thing Ithought was "WOW That sounds great The School Board really trusts me as afree- calling individual to respect people and be respected. I love thisschool" But wait. Before we all grade an "I love Cheryl Wilhoyte" love-fest,lets take a look at what these "legitimate rules" are, particularly as theyapply to freedom of speech, expression, and something they like to call"material dislocation of the educational environment."     The first item on the list is literature, specifically a students rightto post it. It reads "Students shall have the right to post any literature of anon-commercial nature without prior censorship or approval by the Administrationor School Board in any designated posting area, provided, however, thedesignated representative shall be accorded the right to remove posted materials/he considers obscene, libelous or will cause ma terial disruption to theeducational environment." Lets stop and think a bit. I have the right to postwhatever I want so long as my Administrators agree with it? Whose rights are wereally talk about here? Well, I began to think and it occurred to me thatmaybe my Administrators and School Board representatives arent so concernedthat I express myself however I like. But, I can see their point after all, Iprobably wouldnt want fifteen hundred students posting whatever they wanted toeither. They might start to see the introduction outside these walls.     I proceeded reading. The next civil liberties violation I came acrossis stated as such "Students shall have the right to wear buttons.