Posted on 09/27/2005 4:33:37 AM PDT by billorites
FARGO - A ninth-grader here has been banned from his school's assemblies after asking a sensitive question to a U.S. Army pilot.
Phil Sannes also had to apologize to speaker Michael Durant after he asked the "Black Hawk Down" helicopter pilot on Thursday whether he had been raped during his capture by hostile forces in Somalia.
"He asked a fair, hard-balled question," said Phil's dad, Jon Sannes. "I don't know why he's being punished."
"I felt the question posed was inappropriate at that time and that place," said Peggy Stibbe, assistant principal.
In 1993, Durant flew a Blackhawk in Mogadishu, Somalia. The Army pilot was shot down and captured for 11 days. His story inspired the movie, "Black Hawk Down."
He spoke to more than 500 eighth- and ninth-grade students at the Fargo middle school.
The pilot talked about being shot down and captured, but told students there were details he didn't want to share, Stibbe said.
"He knew for a ninth-grade group he could only take it so far," she said.
At the end of the presentation, Durant opened the floor to student questions. That's when Phil Sannes asked his.
"I just wanted to know," the ninth-grader said. "It was a serious question."
Durant said it was a good question, but he wouldn't answer it.
Jon Sannes said forcing his son to apologize and to miss future assemblies violates his son's right to free speech. A school is supposed to encourage students to think and ask questions, he said.
Jon Sannes said he and his son talk about world news events at home.
"You hear about people being beheaded and tortured during war," he said. "My son just had a question about that."
Stibbe said the school usually schedules only one assembly a year.
The school had the right to punish him for being inappropriate.
Thanks, I remember the cover now.
After reading the reviews I'm even more convinced that the MS administrators didn't know what they were getting into.
Again, I have to ask, what did they think the students might be interested in?
The MS principal should have his/her butt on the carpet.
Like father, like son. The son got his attention at assembly (I bet a bunch of his contemporaries snickered at the rape question); now dad is getting his attention via the media...can't ya just see Greta interviewing dad?
Bull. The school should not have allowed a Q&A period.
The pilot talked about being shot down and captured, but told students there were details he didn't want to share, Stibbe said.
Being able to take a hint is part of the educational experience.
Try reading the article first. He said during the presentation that he was captured, but there were details about it he didn't want to share. The kid zeroed right in on that to make a spectacle of himself.
"Fair question."
Have to strongly disagree with you this time. Good parenting settles what is a "fair question" at a very young age....usually at two or three years of age.
This whole discussion reminds me of an incident 30+ years ago when a neighbor and I were having coffee & cookies and one of my "babies" made a rude comment about her weight. After being made to apologize, he was sent to his room and later we discussed how what he said made someone feel sad (easier for him to understand sad than uncomfortable)
Good manners and class are the ability to make others feel comfortable, no matter what the circumstances. This teenages should have learned this long before his teens....but then I'm an old foggy!
My comments stand.
Back when my boys were in school, the only place I remember vets being asked to speak to classes were in HS, and then it was usually just in Senior SS classes.
In this case the school administration is responsible.
I'm sure he learned it. It'd be pretty difficult not to. Some people, though, are just a-holes, and like to put others on the spot.
"....but then I'm an old foggy!"
Me too, and I have not forgotten that, other than girls, I remember the kind of stuff that was on my mind in Junior High.
We had a geography teacher who had been shot down in Europe. He had an inert .50 cal. round on his desk that he allowed the students to pass around during class. He also talked about the injuries he had sustained as he was pulled out of a burning a/c.
Exactly! Tactful, he was not.
LOL.....at "like to put others on the spot"
I'm having another go at good manners with the grandkids...last summer they unsuccessfully attempted to teach lure me into a game called "truth or dare".
After a few of my "what in the world would possess you to ask such a question?" and "whyever would you want to know that?" they gave up, he he!
In this case 499 students got it right, and one got it wrong, even if they were just 9th graders.
I'm just sorry that the parents of this youngster must have missed a lot of opportunities.....you know, those "cringe" times when your tiny one comments on someone's wheelchair, or appearance or disability and you have the opportunity to teach what true sensitivity really means...
The principal was right....I expect schools to RE-INFORCE good manners...not to have the primary responsibility to teach them!
Are you saying that European papers claim that Iraqi POW were raped in Abu Ghraib???
Sounds like a show-boating, smart ass little kid.
He should be sent to the corner with a dunce cap.
Its also a parents resposnibility to teach and encourage their children about and how to use decorum.... something this parent has obviously failed to do. I don't know if I agree with the school actions, but I do know that this parent has some failings as well.
The child either knew or didn't know that this sort of question was not appropriate given the setting and the speakers previous statements.... or he knew and didn't care. In the first place, you inform the child of their innappropriate actions so they know not to do it again.. in the second you punish them severely for it....
It wouldn't suprise me at all if this kid might fall into the second category, and has a history of doing things like this to get a rise out of folks.... and if that is true, then the schools actions are justified and proper. If its the first situation that it is overkill.
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