Posted on 08/21/2012 7:51:43 AM PDT by servo1969
PRAGUE, Okla.– There’s a bit of diploma drama going on between a local high school and that school’s valedictorian.
David Nootbaar is furious his daughter’s school is keeping her diploma.
He said, “She has worked so hard to stay at the top of her class and this is not right.”
Kaitlin Nootbaar graduated from Prague High School, the Red Devils, in May and was named valedictorian.
When tasked with writing the graduation speech, her dad said she got her inspiration from the movie “Eclipse: The Twilight Saga.”
Nootbaar said, “Her quote was, ‘When she first started school she wanted to be a nurse, then a veterinarian and now that she was getting closer to graduation, people would ask her, what do you want to do and she said how the hell do I know? I’ve changed my mind so many times.’”
He said in the written script she gave to the school she wrote “heck,” but in the moment she said “hell” instead.
Nootbaar said the audience laughed, she finished her speech to warm applause and didn’t know there was a problem.
That was until she went to pick up the real certificate this week.
“We went to the office and asked for the diploma and the principal said, ‘Your diploma is right here but you’re not getting it. Close the door; we have a problem,’” Nootbaar said.
He said the principal told Kaitlin she would have to write an apology letter before he would release the diploma.
A move her dad believes is illegal.
“She earned that diploma. She completed all the state curriculum. In four years she has never made a B. She got straight A’s and had a 4.0 the whole way through.”
Kaitlin starts college in a few days on a full scholarship, making the administrators’ decision even more appalling to her family.
We tried to get the school’s side of the story.
Superintendent Dr. Rick Martin said in a statement, “This matter is confidential and we cannot publicly say anything about it.”
Kaitlin doesn’t plan on writing an apology letter because she doesn’t feel she did anything wrong.
Her family supports that choice.
Kaitlin sent KFOR-TV this statement Monday afternoon:
“First off, I would like to thank everyone who is backing me on this, especially my friends and family. And to those who don’t agree with me, that is fine also. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and is free to comment however they choose. It’s one of the great advantages of living in a free country. A country where we are free to speak. I would also like to note that I do not hate Prague. I have loved that town since I was a child. I don’t hate the school either, the teachers have always been great! I don’t feel that the whole town should suffer from the mistakes of few. Again, thanks:)”
Heydrich found that out the hard way.
The answer is not prior censorship by government bureaucrats. Offensive speech is best countered by more speech.
You may be offended by the word hell and some Chinese might be offended by the word Chinaman. Just why that is offensive but Englishman or Frenchman isn’t is beyond me, but I digress. Prior censorship by a government agency is far more dangerous and offensive than anything a kid can say in a ten minute speech.
Prior censorship cuts both ways. I couldn’t remember what Texas school district refused to allow the valedictorian to thank God or Jesus in her speech. It was a San Antonio-area school last year.
Is that acceptable to you??
“The use of profanity is a sign of either intellectually laziness or lack of breeding.”
Given the coarse language on FR, especially the steep slide over the past few years, that characterization would apply to many FReepers here.
Compare the relatively civil and non-profanity laced FR debates in years past with today’s causal use of profanity, it is clear FR is following DU into the sewer.
Get off your soap box and please answer the question.
Oh for the love of Pete. Foul mouthed? For saying hell?
Jeez.
>>”What is the word or deed that you feel can’t be done/ said at a graduation?
Vagina.”<<
Except when used in school plays (The Vagina Dialogue”)
;-)
I did answer your question. Answer mine. Do you also support the bureaucrat that censored a speech thanking God and Jesus?
I'll take your word regarding FR posts of the past.Although I ordinarily almost never use language that's even slightly coarse I must admit that here I've begun to at least alluded to coarse words and opinions because I'm white hot (no pun intended) with contempt for our Community Organizer In Chief and his pals.Perhaps that same contempt explains the general downward trend that you believe that you've seen in recent times.
Many schools don't do that. My high school didn't. Our diplomas weren't given until we returned our caps and gowns.
Actually no you didn't, unless your answer is that anyone can get up and say anything they please.
Is that your answer?
She said "hell" instead of "heck" which is an easy unconscious slip to make under the circumstance. The rest of the text was apparently as expected.
At a special event for the local bishop a young well rehearsed man said, "reincarnation of Christ" instead of "resurrection of Christ" and he was visibly mortified as soon as the word left his month.
Mistakes are made even by professional speakers, actors, journalists, spokespersons and others.
By all appearances she goofed. If all they wanted was a letter--a ridiculous punishment--she should've written it and moved on unless that was going to become an incident in her permanent record.
Did they inform her of consequences if she deviated from the script? Why approve a script with "heck" if "hell" is deemed inappropriate?
The valedictorian or any other scheduled speaker can say whatever they want. Government censorship is far more dangerous than anything a kid can say from the stage.
There is no right to go through life without ever hearing something you find offensive. The idea that there is such a right is why school bureaucrats prohibit speeches that thank God. From your posts it appears that you also agree with that censorship by government bureaucrats. Is that your position?
Criminal offenses is where i would draw the line. You are delusional if you think the speech approval code, and draconian rules about sticking to the script are all that keep it from degenerating into a pornographic fest of vulgarity. The true problem we face is control freak mentality, running in circles waving their arms, warning us of the pandemonium that is sure to befall us without a strict Prussian society placing everything into proper order.
Again, any kid veering into utter unbridled obscenity would be so rare, that far more damage is done by the prevention policies, than by the rare act itself. This “offense” was trivial, a non event. The “cure” is nothing less than some statist overreaction.
You seem obsessed with “lines”. Are you really that frightened of a trivial cuss word like “hell”?
Again, you make the mistake of many conservatives who assume a statist government that makes every trivial decision in our lives is just fine,,, as long as WE get to make the decisions of course. Sounds like you’d enjoy a local version of Saudi Arabia and the mutawaa.
Omg! Did you wittle young ears hear a BAD word? I’m sure Obama would love to help you create a safe little cocoon to live in where you are protected.
Hush now baby, baby don’t you cry
Mama’s gonna check out all your girl friends for you
Mama won’t let anyone dirty get through
Mama’s gonna wait up till you get in
Mama will always find out where
You’ve been
Mamma’s gonna keep baby healthy and clean
Ooooh Babe Ooooh Babe Ooooh Babe
You’ll always be a baby to me,,,,
Mother, did it need to be so high
Great so the next one can pull out a joint and light up, or turn around and say that the Principal was caught in a compromising position with a poodle. I am certain that you would be okay with that.
There is no right to go through life without ever hearing something you find offensive. The idea that there is such a right is why school bureaucrats prohibit speeches that thank God. From your posts it appears that you also agree with that censorship by government bureaucrats. Is that your position?
The issue is not what is or not offensive, the issue is common sense. Freedom of speech is not, has never been, and was never intended to be absolute.
You are not allowed to yell fire in a crowded theater, and you are not allowed to make libelous/ slanderous statements about another person.
See post 97
The joint is a crime, and if the Principal really is outraging the delicacy of that poor poodle,,,HELL YES! Point right at the SOB on stage and TESTIFY! Say “I seent him myself, with my OWNNN eyes,,in flagrante delicto with Fifi!!”
Seize him! LOL
Wait wait,,And then we all look at poor fifi (who won’t look us in the eyes, confirming ALL our fears)
If only we had approved the speech in advance! This feels like the “no guns” sign at the mall. If a kid is so inclined as to spark up a fattie and accuse the principal of bestiality, do you think he will be deterred by the speech approval process?
Think that one ALL the way through smarticle.
“You are not allowed to yell fire in a crowded theater, and you are not allowed to make libelous/ slanderous statements about another person.”
but in a speech, you can say “how the hell would person know”. Can you think of what might be different than your two examples? Hint,,think a victim being truly harmed.
(maybe the socratic method will work on you)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.