Free speech?
A bus driver in Grand Island, NY, was fired for quoting stem cell statistics to students and asking them to discuss it with their parents. The driver had told them that Mel Gibson said in an article that embryonic stem cell research had not produced a single human cure in 23 years. The driver is quoted as saying, "I learned that free speech is definitely not free."
The entire story is here.
I'd be very curious about your reactions to this story, so please comment!
How did you react to the story? Would your reaction be different if the comment had been about evolution, or creationism, or some other hot topic you feel strongly about? Would it be different if you agreed or disagreed with the sentiment? Is it really a free speech issue?
The entire story is here.
I'd be very curious about your reactions to this story, so please comment!
How did you react to the story? Would your reaction be different if the comment had been about evolution, or creationism, or some other hot topic you feel strongly about? Would it be different if you agreed or disagreed with the sentiment? Is it really a free speech issue?
posted by BlogShy at
7:23 PM
4 Comments:
My opinion is "shut your piehole and drive the damn bus." No one's paying her to quote Scientific Expert Mel Gibson to a bunch of kids and telling them to go home and tell their parents how evil stem cell research is.
The absolute and utter level of bullshit in this country astounds me. And it gets deeper every day.
By
Stephanie, at 8:44 PM
Okay, well. For starters, Mel Gibson is a crackpot. And also an actor. Not a scientist. So anyone who quotes a Mel Gibson statistic on stem cell research (in an non-ironical fashion) is clearly a few bricks short of a load herself.
That said, this woman is/was a bus driver. Not a teacher. She apparently was babbling, as some bus drivers have a tendency to do. (Others do shut up and drive.) Was it inappropriate? I don't think there's enough information in that article to say. If she was spouting the stuff over the PA system as the gospel by Mel, then yeah, inappropriate. But if she was chatting it up with the kids sitting near her and she happened to mention the Mel quote that she read in People, then probably not.
Regardless, I don't think this was a fireworthy offense. How about a reprimand? (But again, for all we know this woman's been in trouble before and this was the final straw. That wouldn't make a good story, though.) But if it was as portrayed, then firing seems excessive.
Look, if this were a teacher quoting Mel in front of a classroom, then yeah, I'd have serious issues with that. But I also have serious issues with people not being allowed to talk about whatever, even if I completely disagree with their whatever.
And I strongly doubt that any kid is going to think that the bus driver is the ultimate source for information on *any* topic. There's a reason why they're driving a bus! Even kids know that.
By
Theryn, at 11:56 PM
Well, that article does leave much to be desired. As for kids not taking a bus driver seriously - I don't know about that. The job offers great hours, holidays, vacations and benefits. It's not like all bus drivers do it b/c they can't work elsewhere. It's a good job for a single parent, for example.
(However, I know I didn't take any of my bus drivers seriously and 1 who stands out was very verbally abusive to me as well as others. Picking on us and teasing us and encouraging it from the other kids one week and then the next week, she's your best friend... and we were 12. um... can we say psycho??)
And, obviously, a teacher saying this would've been much more serious.
But let's point out that these are ELEMENTARY school kids - I'm sorry - but between 5 and 10 years old you have no idea about stem cell research and you probably don't know whether your bus driver is smart or psycho.
Free speech does not include preaching to children on school property. If a child participates in a fist fight on a school bus - said child can be punished by the school b/c it happened on school property. Same goes here. Still, dismissal was a going a bit far...
As you said, shut the hell up and drive.
By
chisparoja, at 11:05 AM
Here's a follow up story from the Buffalo News:
'Fired' bus driver quit, Island school district says
By
Erinna, at 7:09 AM
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