In an attempt to stifle the opinions and feelings of a student, the faculty of a school in Little Rock, Ark., reprimanded a 14-year-old boy for discussing his sexual preference with his classmates.
Thomas McLaughlin, the student in question, sued the school district and four teachers of Jacksonville Junior High after he was disciplined for talking to his classmates about being gay, according to a CNN.com article. According to McLaughlin, teachers preached to him and forced him to read the Bible as punishment.
While teachers have the authority to reprimand students who are negatively affecting their peers and hindering the learning process, the Jacksonville Junior High faculty went too far. The way the faculty handled this situation smacks more of a reaction to homosexuality than a reaction to a threat to the welfare of students. The Bible should not have been used to punish McLaughlin, who attends a public school. The teachers involved can argue that discussion of sexual matters during school hours is inappropriate, but they were wrong to force him to read a religious text because they believed his sexual preference was wrong.
The school district stated in a letter to the American Civil Liberties Union - the party that filed the lawsuit with the McLaughlin family - that the student's discussions outside of class time disrupted the learning process. While it is unclear exactly what McLaughlin said about his sexual preference, he could not have disrupted teachers from educating students because his comments and discussions did not take place during class time. If he was distracting a teacher and students during class, an appropriate punishment would be acceptable, but this was not the case.
School administrators should make it a point to teach students and faculty about tolerating and understanding beliefs that they may not hold themselves. If qualified individuals were not available in the area, districts such as this one should have recruited qualified teachers. Situations like this should not be occurring in this day and age.
It is easy to forget that junior high school students are at an age where they are beginning to talk about sex. They are reaching a time in their lives where they are quickly maturing and becoming physically interested in others. Authority figures should not hinder these adolescents' growth and their freedom to express themselves as long as they are not harming those around them; rather, they should act as guides to such students.
Schools cannot censor the opinions and lifestyles of students simply because they are different from what teachers are accustomed to. If a student is discussing something teachers are not used to hearing, those educators should lend an open ear and try to understand. Sometimes, teachers must act as students to learn things they do not necessarily want to be taught.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
