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Thursday, August 3, 2006
“Sufficiently Disturbing”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I know we’ve talked about Roswell teenager Rachel Boim a lot, but her story raises interesting questions about how schools should handle perceived threats. If you’ll recall, she was expelled for writing a story in her journal about a student who shoots her teacher. She had the journal at school. A teacher siezed it, read it and turned her in.
Following media attention that was intense to the point of absurdity, the expulsion was reduced to a 10-day suspension.
In the latest chapter, Mary MacDonald writes in today’s story how Rachel’s family sued the school system for violating her right to free speech. A federal judge through out the suit, saying he found her writing “sufficiently disturbing” in light of the recent history of school shootings around the nation.
Do you agree with the judge? Or should Rachel’s family have been able to proceed with their suit over freedom of expression?
