School Suspends Female Students for Kiss

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp...173.htm&sc=1110

 

School Suspends Female Students for Kiss

By WILEY HALL

 

CLARKSVILLE, Md. (AP) - Inspired by a high school assignment, Stephanie Haaser leaped onto a cafeteria table, shouted ``End homophobia now!'' and kissed classmate Katherine Pecore.

 

Haaser said she was making a statement on behalf of gay and lesbian students because she was bothered by the verbal and physical harassment they face.

 

Their principal said he respected what the students were trying to do, but they needed to learn more appropriate ways to make a point. Haaser and Pecore were suspended for two days.

 

``It's highly inappropriate to stand on a table in the cafeteria and make out, whether the kiss was heterosexual or homosexual,'' said River Hill High School principal Scott Pfeifer. ``I don't think there's a school in the country where parents would consider that appropriate behavior.''

 

Haaser, a junior, said she chose to make the statement as part of an English class assignment, which required that she engage in a nonconformist act in the tradition of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

 

``You hear derogatory comments in virtually every class,'' Haaser said. ``It's not always spiteful - someone might say, 'Oh that's so gay,' where 'gay' means stupid or dumb. But those comments can be really hurtful.''

 

Haaser said teachers who hear such remarks rarely intervene.

 

River Hill administrators said they pride themselves on the school's respect for diversity. Pfeifer said the school has a Gay-Straight Alliance club and a diversity committee of students, teachers and parents. The school recently celebrated National Coming Out Day.

 

``I wouldn't put up River Hill as a national model,'' Pfeifer said, ``but I would say we are as sensitive about these issues as anyone.''

 

The incident has sparked debate about tolerance at the school.

 

A few days after the kiss, juniors Mia Freyer and Anna Boyland staged a brief protest outside the school on behalf of the suspended students. They carried signs that read ``Down with Homophobia'' and ``Don't: Hate and discriminate.''

 

Joshua Lamont, a spokesman for the national Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, said there are just under 2,000 gay-straight alliance clubs at high schools and the number of clubs grew by 50 percent in the past year.

 

But there has been a growth of intolerance, as well, Lamont said. An annual survey of high school students found that more than 90 percent reported hearing homophobic remarks last year and more than 82 percent reported teachers heard the remarks but did nothing about them, Lamont said.

 

A third of the students who identified themselves as gay in the survey reported skipping school for fear of verbal or physical harassment.

 

``I fear harassment is the rule rather than the exception,'' Lamont said.

 

Eileen Woodbury, a special assistant to Howard County school superintendent John O'Rourke, said county school officials plan to strengthen staff development on diversity issues.

 

``I don't doubt that it happens in our schools as well and we're deeply concerned about the professional response,'' she said.

 

Haaser said the kiss has raised awareness of the problem.

 

``It's been wonderful to see and hear the discussion that have taken place at my school since the kiss. People are a lot more aware of the issue,'' she said. ``And I like to think the hurtful, derogatory comments about gays have subsided, at least for a little while.''

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

....

 

I can't be the only person here old enough to remember when schools used to have rules against PDA, hetero and otherwise.

 

I don't think she should have been suspended, although I don't think an afternoon's detention for making an ass of herself during lunch is unreasonable.

 

And what's with that English assignment, anyway? Is that what teachers are doing nowadays? Teaching children to become social dissidents?

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

That would be an interesting change of pace. Better than the usual high school assembly line, I guess. Although the beauty of it from the school's perspective is that students generally do the opposite of what they're told in those regards, so perhaps encouraging dissent will really end up making them docile.

[sfaJack 0]

God, my high school was so boring.

[Guest Cerebus]

God, my high school was so boring.

Of course, you guys had nine football coaches

 

On topic, I would say that if this were a hetero thing, they probably would have got suspended anyway and no one would have made a peep about it. This girl is an attention whore, but since what she did realted with homosexuals it's become blown into a national issue.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I'm not defending her actions, as it seemed like a cry for attention but I highly doubt they would've been suspended had it been a hetero display of affection. I saw that stuff constantly at my old school and nothing was said about it, but you can be sure that gay people doing that would've caused some sort of uproar.

[NoCalMike 0]

Couples were never harassed for making out during school when I was in highschool, unless they were supposed to be in class. Oh and the gay folks, well I honestly can't remember any "out" so I can't speak for them, but I am sure they were afraid of potential harrassment since the only rumored kiss between 2 guys turned into gossip within 30 minutes and they were the laughing stock of the school for a long-while.

 

I think in this situation detention would have been more appropriate then getting suspended.

[lomasmoney 0]

only 9 football coaches shit we had like 12 on varsity alone

[Ravenbomb 0]

I can't be the only person here old enough to remember when schools used to have rules against PDA

No, mine still does. This one guy in my 4th hour had his PDA out and he was playing some game on it and he got written up and it was taken away.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

I'm not defending her actions, as it seemed like a cry for attention but I highly doubt they would've been suspended had it been a hetero display of affection.  I saw that stuff constantly at my old school and nothing was said about it...

You "constantly" saw people stand up on a table in the middle of lunch period and make a show out of kissing their SO?

 

Ravenbomb, , just ...

[Styles 0]

What an outrage, if I was the principal I would have them sent to my office immediately!

[Highland 0]

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

If she's a REAL freedom fighter she'd take the punishment and become a martyr.

 

Pussy.

 

And I wonder what she would have done to protest the Clinton Impeachment?...

[Firestarter 0]

Stephanie Haaser

 

The girl is cute. I would've given her an award, a standing ovation, and an invitation to dinner and breakfast.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Woah, that's her?

 

Ummmm, there's hetrophobia running loose in my neighborhood.

 

Let's put an end to it now, Steph...

[Firestarter 0]

Back off, buddy. She wants to end homophobia, and I'm just the girl to help her out.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

I thought you were married, Marney; what would your wife say?

[Firestarter 0]

"I'm next."

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Back off, buddy. She wants to end homophobia, and I'm just the girl to help her out.

But I'm trying to save MY people from hetrophobia.

 

What are you? A hetrophobe?...

[Styles 0]

Oh she would definitely get afterschool dentention in my office for AT LEAST a month.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

How long would the detention be -- 10 seconds?

 

She could still probably catch her school bus ride home...

[Firestarter 0]

I'm trying to save MY people from hetrophobia.

 

What are you? A hetrophobe?...

Not really. But if I get her to read this thread, she'll become a heterophobe in short order.

[Styles 0]

How long would the detention be -- 10 seconds?

 

She could still probably catch her school bus ride home...

See its an arrangement that works for both of us!

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

In an unusual turn of events, I'll say something completely irrelevant, yet holding some relevance (and thus creating an awkward form of hypocrisy) to the topic at hand:

 

I'D HIT IT!

[teke184 0]

At my school, hetero and homo PDAs were discouraged, although I think the hetero PDAs tended to result in punishments occasionally while homo PDAs typically resulted in the Dean of Student's daughter and her evil bitch girlfriend being separated during school soccer trips.

[Prime Time Andrew Doyle 0]

What the fuck is a PDA

[Guest Choken One]

Is it just me or just she look like Reese Witherspoon from ELECTION?

 

Yeah, She's Cute, dare I say "HOT" for a HS Junior.

 

as for the incident itself, We had tons of "demostrations" "protests" during lunch...This was at the start of the whole GAY thing (post Racial crap)...We only had like 3 openly gay students but two of them were kinda popular (both guys) but the one Lesbian wasn't popular and often was made fun of as she was not only ugly but rude as well.

 

Today, I hear that from my younger cousins that School is VERY open and and in his class alone there is about 13 openly gay students and the Gay Pride Team is just as accepted as the Drama Club was for us.

 

Unfortantly, The Chess Club still consist of 3 exchange students from Korea. Good to know some things never change.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

What the fuck is a PDA

PDA = Public Display of Affection.

 

Unless, of course, you're ravenbomb, in which case, you may be talking about a Personal Digital Assistant...

[Guest Cerebus]

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Unfortantly, The Chess Club still consist of 3 exchange students from Korea. Good to know some things never change.

I was in the chess club.

 

Well, kinda.

 

When I was in 11th and 12th grade my friend and I signed up. We didn't go to any "meetings," or whatever they had. Instead, we just attended some event that happened once or twice a year where students from other schools would come to our school and play chess all day.

 

Funny thing was that half of those people that were from other schools joined their clubs for the same reason I did. All we did was goof off and talk about chicks/sports/etc. whenever we would play our match. Since I had some skill with my knight and bishop I usally won, only to get destroyed by the "real" chess players -- although one time I almost defeated one of them until I left my queen in the open. D'oh.

 

It sure as heck beat going to class...