Having raised six people who were once that age, as well as having been fourteen myself a while back, my impression is that that is an age when anyone might tend to blow off steam now and then.
And what better way in the English language than using the F-bomb? I never intervened when my kids used it since they usually seemed to have a pretty good reason and probably they learned it from me anyway.
Of course I worked in newsrooms all of my career, where the language traditionally was at least as profanity-laced as on ships, though that has been lessening a bit in modern times as more women have joined the journalism profession.
Not that women journalists couldn't swear with the best of the men -- our dear departed Molly Ivins proved that many times over. Speaking of Molly, my co-founder Dan Noyes recently unearthed a videotape of her keynoting a fundraiser for us at the Center for Investigative Reporting in the 80s.
Let's just say I'm glad the Supreme Court didn't have a hand in regulating *that* event.
But returning to the issue here, student speech off-campus, seriously the courts need to stay as far away from that as they can. Nobody on the right or the left wants black-robed justices telling us how to raise our kids.
On-campus free speech is a different matter; I have to grant grade school and high school administrators some leeway in regulating what kids can say in classes or even in the student publication. But I'd urge them to go easy there too, especially with the student newspaper.
I've been an advisor to school newspapers on occasion and quite frankly I found the kids involved to be almost as responsible, adjusting for age, as their adult counterparts in professional settings. Basically my belief is free speech is a very good thing -- even when it causes all sorts of trouble.
Actually, especially when it causes trouble.
Therefore, I hope reason prevails and the court reaffirms that Brandi Levy had the right to have her rant on Snapchat free from school official's interference.
All of this said, I realize that a corollary issue here is bullying. Throwing a fit out of frustration is fine; bullying other people is not. I realize that schools, courts and parents are all trying to take on this important issue, which to me is separate from the issue of free speech.
Here is a link to an insightful analysis of *that* issue:
<https://www.theregreview.org/2020/12/19/saturday-seminar-cyberbullying-free-speech-limits/>
(Thanks to Jay Hirschman for alerting me as they issue broke into the news flow when I was asleep.)
***
The headlines:
* Pressure on Mexico to reverse its intended ban on glyphosate and phaseout of genetically engineered (GE) corn has been coming from its neighbor to the north… us. A series of emails obtained via the Freedom of Information Act indicated, unsurprisingly, that the pesticide industry asked U.S. government officials to interfere with Mexico’s planned glyphosate ban — and U.S. officials said yes. (Pesticide Action Network)
* The vast and empty Chernobyl Exclusion Zone around the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident is a baleful monument to human mistakes. Yet 35 years after a power plant reactor exploded, Ukrainians also look to it for inspiration, solace and income. Reactor No. 4 at the power plant 110 kilometers (65 miles) north of the capital Kyiv exploded and caught fire deep in the night on April 26, 1986, shattering the building and spewing radioactive material high into the sky. Soviet authorities made the catastrophe even worse by failing to tell the public what had happened — although the nearby plant workers’ town of Pripyat was evacuated the next day, the 2 million residents of Kyiv weren’t informed despite the fallout danger. The world learned of the disaster only after heightened radiation was detected in Sweden. (AP)
* Ukraine vows not to repeat Chernobyl tragedy (NHK)
* Census data shows political power shifting south to GOP strongholds (WaPo)
* Supreme Court to Hear Case on Right to Carry Concealed Guns -- It is the first major Second Amendment case the Supreme Court has heard since 2010 and one that could lead to a loosening of gun laws nationwide. (WSJ)
* Texas (2), Florida, Colorado, Montana, Oregon and North Carolina will gain seats, while California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia will lose one seat each in Congress due to the 2020 Census. (CNN)
* 1st-Time Gun Buyers Help Push Record U.S. Gun Sales Amid String Of Mass Shootings (NPR)
* Michigan’s Covid Wards Are Filling Up With Younger Patients (NYT)
* New U.S. cases still at a ‘precarious’ level, Fauci says, amid slowing vaccination rates (WaPo)
* Oklahoma governor signs near-total abortion ban into law (CNN)
* Before Jan. 6, FBI collected information from at least 4 Proud Boys (Reuters)
* Study: Body-Worn Camera Research Shows Drop In Police Use Of Force (NPR)
* If the nation is in the midst of a historic reckoning on racism, most leaders of the Republican Party are not participating. (AP)
* European Union officials will send "rapid" assistance to help India combat its latest, devastating COVID-19 outbreak. In the U.S., a National Security Council spokesperson said they would send aid to India as well. (HuffPost)
* How ICE’s Mishandling of Covid-19 Fueled Outbreaks Around the Country (NYT)
* A cheerleader’s Snapchat rant leads to ‘momentous’ Supreme Court case on student speech (WaPo)
* Cyberbullying and the Limits of Free Speech (The Regulatory Review)
* Virus surge in crowded Gaza threatens to overwhelm hospitals (AP)
* Biden's administration is set to push to make community college tuition-free, a potentially revolutionary policy that could nonetheless disappoint progressives who would like to see four-year public colleges be tuition-free. There's "no political downside" to making community college free, according to a moderate Democratic think tank. [HuffPost]
* Millions Are Skipping Their Second Doses of Covid Vaccines (NYT)
* Study finds Lyme-carrying ticks next to beaches and ‘pretty much wherever we looked’ (WaPo)
* Beavers have been blamed after a town in the Canadian province of British Columbia lost their internet service for some 12 hours. (BBC)
* Man Reminds Self Woman On Chiquita Banana Sticker Only Smiling At Him Because That’s Her Job (The Onion)
"You Don't Own Me"
I'm not just one of your many toys
You don't own me
Don't say I can't go with other boys
Don't tell me what to say
And please, when I go out with you
Don't put me on display 'cause
Don't try to change me in any way
You don't own me
Don't tie me down 'cause I'd never stay
I don't tell you what to do
So just let me be myself
That's all I ask of you
I'm free and I love to be free
To live my life the way I want
To say and do whatever I please
Oh, don't tell me what to say
And please, when I go out with you
Don't put me on display
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