Posted on 05/10/2006 3:32:01 PM PDT by k8baller
Ten-year-Old Forbidden from Singing Pink’s Anti-Bush Song at School Talent Show By Matthew Rothschild May 9, 2006
Molly Shoul has appeared in several talent shows at Park Springs Elementary School over the years.
And she was planning on participating again on May 11.
The ten-year-old decided to sing Pink’s new song, “Dear Mr. President,” which the pop star says is one of the most important songs she’s ever written. (The lyrics to the song are at bottom. To hear Pink perform, click here.)
Molly says she got the Pink CD for Easter, and she was attracted to this particular tune.
“It’s a really good song,” she says. “I wanted to sing something meaningful” for the annual talent show.
So she auditioned with it, and she says the music teacher told her it was very good, but that he would have to ask the principal.
And the principal, Camille Pontillo, put the kibosh on it, as Jamie Malernee of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel first reported in an excellent story on May 5.
The biting song includes lines such as: “How do you sleep at night?” and “You don’t know nothing about hard work,” and “You pave the road to hell” and “What kind of father might hate her own daughter if she were gay?” and “You’ve come a long way from whiskey and cocaine.”
Molly says the principal said the song was too political and would be inappropriate because it had the word “hell” in it, along with “whiskey” and “cocaine” and “gay.”
When that decision came down, Molly says she felt “a little bit angry and sad and upset, and a bit confused.”
Her mother, Nancy, was upset, too.
She wrote an e-mail to the principal on May 2, which she shared with The Progressive.
“I think we are sending a bad message," Nancy wrote. “Molly has become aware of world events and she was EXTREMELY excited to find this song and want to sing it. She is passionate about it—has been practicing it since the day the Talent Show was announced. With limits, I think our kids should be allowed to express themselves in a respectful, meaningful way. To try to ‘shield’ them from the real world is, I believe, a real mistake. Could I please get your feedback on this?”
Principal Pontillo responded in the following way: “I understand your position, however, the song she chose is a political song and does use the word “hell” in it. I am sure there are other songs that she can choose from that will allow her to express herself. We must remember that there are going to be students from pre-K to 5th—not just an older audience, such as middle school, or just 5th grade. I hope you understand.”
On May 11, Molly will not be participating in the talent show.
“I’d feel weird,” she says, adding that it would be like giving up to sing another song.
Her mom, who happens to be a high school teacher in the same school district, is not happy about the outcome.
“This was undoubtedly censorship,” she says.
The Progressive left a message for Principal Pontillo, but did she not call back.
Nadine Drew, a spokesperson for the Broward County Public Schools, says, “It was the principal’s decision that it was inappropriate for the elementary age group.”
As to the charge of censorship, Drew says: “I don’t have a reaction to the parent.”
Lyrics to Pink’s “Dear Mr. President”
Dear Mr. President Come take a walk with me Let's pretend we're just two people and You're not better than me I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly
What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep What do you feel when you look in the mirror Are you proud
How do you sleep while the rest of us cry How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye How do you walk with your head held high Can you even look me in the eye And tell me why
Dear Mr. President Were you a lonely boy Are you a lonely boy How can you say No child is left behind We're not dumb and we're not blind They're all sitting in your cells While you pave the road to hell
What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay I can only imagine what the first lady has to say You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine
How do you sleep while the rest of us cry How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye How do you walk with your head held high Can you even look me in the eye
Let me tell you about hard work Minimum wage with a baby on the way Let me tell you about hard work Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away Let me tell you about hard work Building a bed out of a cardboard box Let me tell you about hard work Hard work Hard work You don't know nothing about hard work Hard work Hard work Oh
How do you sleep at night How do you walk with your head held high Dear Mr. President You'd never take a walk with me Would you
There, ya learned somethin, and I wont even charge ya.
They must work off of a different definition of "respectful".
Sounds like the mom is a MoonBat dingbat teacher from the darkside of the moon that has absolutely no brains and unfortunately the daughter may turn out just like her mommy.
I bet good money the mom "dates" the students she teaches.
Also when i have kids, there is NO WAY IN HELL i'm going to let them attend ANY kind of public school or private. It's going to be Homeschool & private tutors for them.
Uh oh, the Zot police are out? Ignore them.
Let's follow this logic then about appropriateness. Back in my younger days, I was a big Hank Williams Jr. fan. On the Whiskey Bent And Hellbound album is one of my favorite songs, O.D'd in Denver. It's about how he met this woman who is the ideal woman, but he was so high on blow that he can't remember her name. I used to listen to that song when my kids were in the car, in their younger days (still do). For that matter, I would listen to the original version of "Devil Went Down to Georgia", the original version of "Fancy" and "If You Don't Like Hank Williams..."
Was I wrong in listening to that music in the car, playing it in family functions, and letting my kids own said music. What one person finds inappropriate, another person finds fine. Now, "cocaine" and queers, yeah, I can understand why you wouldn't let that in an elementary school, (it is a public school though...) but to exclude a song cause of a reference to alcohol. Do that and you exclude the majority of country music from eligibility.
Yeah, mom. Sounds very respectable to me.
Who gives a sh$t what some little old brat thinks? Her rotten mother should be locked up for child abuse for using the child as a political prop.
I think so
IBTZ
You again? Just stirring things up?? Weren't you just zotted on another thread? It is NOT appropriate for a public school.
Zotted.
On second thought, missed it.
in that case
IBTZ
I'd love to see Hannity hit pink with one of his "Do you know who the is/" pop quiz's.
Look at his sign up date. What do you expect?
“I think we are sending a bad message," Nancy wrote. “Molly has become aware of world events and she was EXTREMELY excited to find this song and want to sing it. She is passionate about it—has been practicing it since the day the Talent Show was announced. With limits, I think our kids should be allowed to express themselves in a respectful, meaningful way. To try to ‘shield’ them from the real world is, I believe, a real mistake. Could I please get your feedback on this?”
What an idiot. Maybe the bad message is letting a ten-year old listen to Pink!
Get yourself an education and stop fornicating, you idiot, and then you won't have all the "hard work, hard work." And, by the way, no one wants to hear this ridiculout crap about "the mininum wage." This only applies to you "progressive" types. And, if you want a smidge of credibility, you might try dropping the "you don't know nothing" crap. Go back and read my previous post about double negatives. You and your type expect everyone to bend the language to your inadequacies. We just "ain't" going there.
Where is dad? How does he feel about this?
I remember back in 1984 (yes, the year, not the book) a boy wanted to dress in drag and sing a song that kind of made fun of girls' attitudes. I was there when he mad it. It was stupid, but funny. I say this and I am a girl. So, if a school can keep him from doing that, why can't they choose what song someone can't sing?
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