Teen May Be Suspended for Prom Attendance

[MA-Caver]

Hopefully this won't degenerate into a flame throwing they're right, they're wrong type discussion but it could use some discussion.
My first thoughts are ... they STILL walk among us... the stupids... in this case an entire school board.

Ohio teen expects to be suspended for trip to prom



Sun May 10, 11:46 am ET
FINDLAY, Ohio – An Ohio teenager says he expects to be suspended from a Christian school for attending a public school prom with his girlfriend.
Officials at Heritage Christian School in Findlay had warned 17-year-old Tyler Frost that he would be suspended and prohibited from attending graduation if he went to the Saturday dance. The fundamentalist Baptist school in northwest Ohio forbids dancing, rock music and hand holding.


rest of the story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_school_dance_flap

Granted it is a private school and thus have the right to subject it's students attending to whatever rules they see fit. If the students/parents don't like them then they can simply drop out and go mainstream.

But their rules should ONLY apply to THEIR school and the grounds. Outside their property they shouldn't control their students. The students should decide to follow the rules and standards set OUTSIDE the school's property lines. Yet this bunch wants to maintain it's fascism like sphere of influence over their students beyond those lines.
The father will be totally in the right I feel in pursuing a legal course should the boy be suspended, in spite of the fact the school is willing to let him finish out and get his diploma but only separately from the rest of his graduating class.
It's a sticky to be sure.

 

[grydth]

This school forbids hand holding and dancing? (Holy Footloose, Batman!) Are you sure on the name of this school? Is it Heritage Christian School or Heritage Taliban School?

Ever notice the eerie similarities between the religious extremists of all types and countries?

Odd thing is that the school will likely triumph - I bet they laid out the policy pretty clearly and the kid and parents knew it when they signed up.

 

[arnisador]

Well, this school has its rules...but yeah, religious extremists they are. They need to inch into the 19th century...

 

[Archangel M]

Footloose Lives!!

 

[stone_dragone]

I fully believe that the school is convinced that they are right.

Hitler was pretty sure he was right, too.

As one who shys away from the term "Fundamentalist" as a Christian, I struggle to find this religious body's totalitarian tactics as anything but a representation of the inbreeding that leads to cults and fresh mixed kool-aid in 5 gallon containers.

I am significantly more pragmatic as a follower of Christ...does anyone who isn't a Christian want to become one when they hear these stories?

I didn't think so.

 

[arnisador]

Well, the Godwin reference is not necessary here, I think...but otherwise, I agree.

And while going to a private school is voluntary in one sense, he's a minor and in that sense he can't really enter into a contract with them. He's subject to his parents' desire/willingness to send him to this cult's training grounds.

 

[Gordon Nore]

This is quite disturbing. I suppose if the school has made these rules understood when they enrolled the young man, they can pursue this course.

 

[girlbug2]

But their rules should ONLY apply to THEIR school and the grounds. Outside their property they shouldn't control their students..

I completely agree. I would wonder at the legality of any contract where the school attempts to exert influence/pressure on students outside of school grounds. Isn't that a form of slavery?

 

[CuongNhuka]

I completely agree. I would wonder at the legality of any contract where the school attempts to exert influence/pressure on students outside of school grounds. Isn't that a form of slavery?

It could be looked at like that. However, Public Schools do the same thing. If you break school rules off school grounds, you can (and will) get in trouble anyway.

Also, if you get into a fight at a bar, and get arrested for it, your employer could fire you because someone could associate what you did with the company. It's all very stupid....

 

[Omar B]

Funny how this religious school is trying to control this kid outside of their walls, guess since they think god is everywhere so should their rules.

 

[Thems Fighting Words]

If he was acting as a representative of the school in some manner, then I guess he's got few options. If not than the school has little business in what he was doing. Then again, maybe the school considers all its students as being school representative all the time.

 

[ShelleyK]

On the schools website the principle has made a statement concerning all the emails they have been getting...he also likes to quote a LOT of scripture...I can understand that, given that its a religious school...but I dont think much of what he quoted had anything to do with the kid at the dance...at least not directly.
He also said "should a Christian place themselves at an event where young ladies will have low cut dresses and be dancing in them?" Well doesnt the bible say "sing and dance unto the lord" At least MY bible says that.
Now Im not a religious person by any means but I have read the bible, I went to church and sunday school...and Im sorry but these fundamentalists...are really MENTAL!!

 

[Bill Mattocks]

But their rules should ONLY apply to THEIR school and the grounds. Outside their property they shouldn't control their students.

When people do things outside of work that their employer does not find acceptable, the result is often loss of employment. And that's without a specific set of rules that say what an employee may or may not do off-duty.

In some places, employers have specific rules regarding what employees may do off-duty. For example, use drugs. In one famous case here in Michigan, an employer who self-insures employees health care forbid employees from smoking on or off the job, and fires people found to be smokers. The Supreme Court says that is perfectly legal.

I would agree that the school is a bit whack. But then, that's not my religion, not my school. I believe they get to set the rules, and if students or parents do not wish to abide by them, they can leave. No one is forcing them to stay.

Sorry, I'm with the school on this one. Do I think they're being 19th Centurty throwbacks? Sure. Do I think they have that right? Yep.

 

[clfsean]

I'd tell the school to eat a booger & gimme my diploma. If they're an accredited school & graduation requirements have been met, screw'em. Gimme the paper & while you force your rules on those who walk, I'm going to the beach.

Seriously.

 

[Brian Jones]

Nope Sorry,
I have to agree with the school on this one. I disagree with their viewpoints on dancign and hand holding. Scripturally they don't hold water, in my opinion.
However no one is forcing this young man to attend that school. he could attend Findlay or some other school that has open enrollment (There are several good schools in the area) This young man, or I assume his parents, made the decision to voluntarily enroll in this school and therefore must have been in agreement with their philosophy.
They knew the rules going in, and the consequences for breaking them. If he wants to go to the prom, fine but he can't whine about what happens because of his decision. I love all the comments indicating "I would do what I want and then force them to give me my diploma". Sorry the real world doesn't work that way. It won't work for him in college or when he gets a job. Your Principles, College Presidents and employers have a right to put expectations on you. That's just life.

Brian Jones

 

[Tez3]

On the schools website the principle has made a statement concerning all the emails they have been getting...he also likes to quote a LOT of scripture...I can understand that, given that its a religious school...but I dont think much of what he quoted had anything to do with the kid at the dance...at least not directly.
He also said "should a Christian place themselves at an event where young ladies will have low cut dresses and be dancing in them?" Well doesnt the bible say "sing and dance unto the lord" At least MY bible says that.
Now Im not a religious person by any means but I have read the bible, I went to church and sunday school...and Im sorry but these fundamentalists...are really MENTAL!!

Well if the 'Christian' has been brought up properly and goes to a place like that he will behave himself properly won't he lol! it always amazes me that these people preach, teach and generally rant on about stuff yet have absolutely no faith in anyone ever doing the right thing. You bring your children up properly without brainwashing them and they will do the right thing, if not they will learn from doing the wrong thing with your support.
You're right, they really are mental ...with a disturbing penchance for thinking about sex alot!

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I completely agree. I would wonder at the legality of any contract where the school attempts to exert influence/pressure on students outside of school grounds. Isn't that a form of slavery?

Employers do it all the time. Is that a form of slavery?

If it were a public school, I might have an issue with it, but as a private school, I think they're free to set whatever hare-brained rules they want. Doesn't mean I agree with their rules, but the student's family is free to remove him from that school and its rules if they wish.

 

[stone_dragone]

However no one is forcing this young man to attend that school. he could attend Findlay or some other school that has open enrollment (There are several good schools in the area) This young man, or I assume his parents, made the decision to voluntarily enroll in this school and therefore must have been in agreement with their philosophy.

Unfortunately, it has been my vicarious experience through numerous family members (cousins) and other individuals that I have either known through church or socially who personally attended or enrolled their children in various private Christian schools in the NW Pennsylvania / NE Ohio region that the education is often not even close to what would be acceptable for a public school... lower state mandated standardized test scores, lack of basic understanding of many scientific principles and a general inability to learn anything that doesn't pass the "My preacher says it" test.

It's possible that going to the other school would be more to his detriment (relative to graduating, anyway) than staying in the Fundamental-Extremist cult school. BTW, The difference between Fundamentalist and Fundamental Extremist is a big one and not one that I have time for right now

I understand that not all Christian schools provide substandard education, and I apologize for any offense that may have been taken on my observations.

 

[Flea]

From one of my all-time favorite movies ...

[yt]umLUKBlpyoY&feature[/yt]

 

[LuckyKBoxer]

I think some people are so anti religion, or so scared of religious extremism that they jump off the handle at the simple addition of the word religious or spiritual in any way.
Take that out of the equation here and think about this..

A Private Company has rules that every member of that company agree too before becoming a member. The membership is voluntary, and has a high cost associated with being a member. That member then goes and voluntarily breaks the rules, and the company decides to punish him for it.

Is this so wrong? They are not kicking the kid out of school... they are not erasing his hard work for the last four years... they are simply suspending him from classes, forcing him to miss the graduation ceremony, and then making him take his final exams and give him his diploma afterwards.

What is so wrong with that?

I really despise the entitlement attitude that so many people have, they believe simply because they exist that they are entitled to anything they want under any circumstance....

Please stop trying to tell private companies what to do, how to do it, and maybe spend more time worrying why the public school system is such a disaster.. Why Los Angelos high school kids have a higher percentage chance of dropping out of school then they do of graduating high school... how Public schools cost up to 4 times the amount per student that private schools do, and show very little other then negatives for it.