Posted on 05/10/2003 8:54:58 PM PDT by VivaVilla
OAKLAND (KRON) -- Some teachers in Oakland are rallying behind two students who were interrogated by the Secret Service. That followed remarks the teenagers made about the President during a class discussion. The incident has many people angry.
For years the classroom has been the setting for the free expression of ideas, but two weeks ago certain ideas led to two students being taken out of class and grilled by the United States Secret Service.
It happened at Oakland High. The discussion was about the war in Iraq. That's when two students made comments about the President of the United States. While the exact wording is up for debate, the teacher didn't consider it mere criticism, but a direct threat and she called the Secret Service.
Teacher Cassie Lopez says, "They were so shaken up and afraid."
Now, other teachers are coming to the aid of the two students and crying foul.
"I would start with the teacher, she made a poor judgement," Lopez says.
Teacher Larry Felson says, "What we're concerned about is academic freedom and that students have the right to free expression in the classroom."
Even worse, they say, is the fact that the students were grilled by federal agents without legal counsel or their parents present, just the principal.
"When one of the students asked, 'do we have to talk now? Can we be silent? Can we get legal council?' they were told, 'we own you, you don't have any legal rights,'" Felson says.
"We don't want federal agents or police coming in our schools and interrogating our children at the whim of someone who has a hunch something might be wrong," Lopez says.
The union representing Oakland teachers requires that students be afforded legal counsel and parental guidance before they're interrogated by authorities. It's too late for the two involved in this incident, and teachers say it's something they'll carry with them for years.
"I tell you the looks on those childrens faces. I don't know if they'll say anything about anything ever again. Is that what we want? I don't think we want that," says Lopez.
Couldn't be intentional, now could it?
At most schools I'm familiar with, if a student is being questioned about a serious offense in the principal's office, the student will be told to sit down and answer the questions.
I'm not positive about schools in California, but in Georgia a student is supposed to be where the adult in charge has told him or her to be, and no where else. (Conversely, the adults are held responsible for the safety and well-being of the students in their charge.)
Or even worse what if one said that they were going to lead the class in prayer or someone said that they were going to burn a cross? Yeah, free expression. Just as long as it conforms to the party line.
There is more than "something" missing, almost everything. This reporter apparently spoke to two people, teachers Lopez and Felson, who are upset about the incident. Notice that there is not a single quote from anyone who was involved in or witnessed the the classroom discussion or the subsequent interrogations first hand.
No quotes from:
The students or their parents.
The students who witnessed the comments.
The teacher involved.
The principal involved.
The U.S. Secret Service.
This passes for professional journalism?
Yes, someone freep mailed me that info. I found the thread and have added my prayers to the chorus of good wishes headed gonzo's way.
Perhaps. It appears to me that most of the people on this thread think (1) the story was poorly written to give the impression that the students were mistreated, the teacher who reported them was a lunatic, and the USSS agents were jack-booted thugs, and (2) threatening the president is not a smart idea.
Get real. THis is simply the communist/socialist state of disrepair Kalifornia baby-coms trying to cover their A**e* by lying like hell.
I would like to know much more than the article says, in order to have an opinion on this but I can say positively that USSS agents in the Cincy area don't talk that way.
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